Noruz is the first full-length album from the SOFT HILLS, a Seattle quintet whose previous release was the enormously promising Painted World EP. While it may seem like a cliché to say it, that promised is fulfilled here, many times over. Led by singer/songwriter GARRETT HOBBA, the band works with elements fairly familiar to discerning rock fans – the tenor vocals, reverbed guitars, languid tempos and heart-on-sleeve songwriting might bring to mind everyone from BAND OF HORSES and FLEET FOXES to MY MORNING JACKET and BUILT TO SPILL. But I get the feeling this isn’t deliberate on Hobba’s part – he’s just painting with the same colors because he likes ‘em, not because everyone else is doing it. Regardless, Hobba’s creative muse is every bit the equal of that of JIM JAMES or BEN BRIDWELL – cuts like the pastoral “The Great Undiscovered,” the dynamic “New Alchemy” and “The Unborn Mind” and the shimmering title track revel in songcraft as much as sound, melody as much as atmosphere, beauty as much as melancholy. There’s a warmth to Noruz, an open invitation to share in its creators’ emotional processes that gives the record a life beyond its influences.
