I have always liked Ari Hest’s albums - moderately - they were OK. This one is different - VERY different. Can sound be spectacular? Audicular? Whatever the word - 12 Mondays is it.
CONTINUE >>> The album includes songs from Hest’s personal (self produced and published) project titled 52, in which he released a new song every week for a year. All songs on this album are his fans’ choices of “the best” of that collection. And THE BEST they truly are - it’s not too often that one can honestly say that there are NO weak songs here. This is such an incredible qualitative (and quantitative!) improvement over the previous albums - everything is somehow new, fresh, and sounds emotionally sincere; from technical point of view, all elements of this albums are close to perfection (or just perfect). Hest’s songs are beautifully crafted, his voice is now more mature, and has impressive dynamic range; gentle back-vocals harmonies are used with restraint, and the record is outstandingly produced: even though it maintains a stylistic consistency, and to a certain degree his own “signature” sound, it’s varied, and never gets boring, creating interesting soundscapes and arrangements on many songs. My personal favorites (although I like them all) are “Cranberry Lake” and rhythmically spectacular “Binoculars,” the gritty texture of which combined with syncopated rhythms, and colorful, textured background vocals showcases Hest’s talents.
It’s gutsy for a singer/author to go back to “independent” after recording for a major label. In this case, it seems it was a carefully planned, and well thought out decision, backed up with creativity, tenacity, hard work, and lots of talent. I hope it is a new start for Ari Hest, on his own terms: a beginning of a great career.