Hospitality – Hospitality

Inviting and Accomodating

Brooklyn’s Hospitality finally released their debut self-titled album, recorded in just four days, after circulating it for a long time.  While there may be a few tracks you’ve heard before on Hospitality, the originals do little to inform what the mastered versions provide.

“Betty Wang,” for instance, is an older single about Papini’s former co-worker and one of the songs that has benefited from being tidied up a bit. Vocals are crisper and guitar strumming is clearer. Hospitality immediately captures attention on the first track, “Eighth Avenue.” Singer/songwriter/guitar/pianist and Yale graduate Amber Papini’s high-pitched, quirky vocals both talk and sing to you. But let’s not forget about the rest of the trio: Brian Betancourt  on bass and Nathan Michel (Papini’s husband) on percussion, keys and pretty much everything else. Between the three of them, they know enough instruments to provide a lot of unique sounds (example: the saxophone in “Friends of Friends,” which by the way, sounds a little like an old Hellogoodbye song in the beginning and is currently the only song from the album with a music video).

“Sleepover” slows things way down compared to “Betty Wang.” Papini’s voice is drawn out and Michel’s drumming mixed with the laid-back, alt-rock guitar provides a glimpse to listeners that Hospitality have a lot up their sleeves. Hospitality is an album reflecting on the 20-something’s good ole college years: the English literature, the hustle and bustle of the big city and how all this managed to shape them into the people they are now. Now that the band has hit their 30s, it will be interesting to see how and what they’ll reflect on next.