In a little less than half a year, singer-songwriter William Hinson has followed up his five-track Elevator Music EP with a second installment. Vol. 2 presents five new tracks and despite bearing a more playful, pastel re-work of the original album art, takes itself more seriously.
Hinson gently reminds listeners of his fondness of ‘found sounds’–a post-wisdom teeth extraction sound bite as heard on Vol. 1‘s “Shirley,” but relies less on them this time. A telephone ring appears on both the cheeky opening track “Why Won’t You Be My Girl?” and the melancholy “Pendulum.” The imagery of Vol. 2‘s album art, within which a landline phone is a new detail, is made tangible. “Why’d you never call me back?” Hinson pines on a haunting duet with Claire Hoke that’s reminiscent of Bon Iver.
The multi-instrumentalist has proved he knows his way around a loop pedal, but it’s refreshing to know Hinson’s songs hold up when a piano or guitar form their base. The brief, yet punchy “16,17,18,” calls “The Sound of Music” to mind, and “Identifying Trees,” a soaring ballad, could flank “Clair De Lune” or “Je Te Veux.”
Perhaps it’s “Pinkdyesea” that is a working title for Vol. 2‘s aesthetic on which Hinson both returns to his acoustic roots and summarizes a promise beyond the EP: he’s going to get the girl, even if he has to wait for her.
