Customer Reviews

Size of Planets

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have to confess, I was initially a bit wary of an album from a twenty-year-old who composes songs out of images that surface in her dreams. But then I did what each of you should do: I tracked down her website ... and listened to a few tracks off the album; I quickly became a fan. Haley's voice is a perfect river flowing through the haunted landscape of these stories. From "save a horse, ride a cowboy" all the way through to "lullaby" I'm reminded of all the heartache and joy wrapped up in being human. Haley's songs are mature well beyond her twenty years; her lyrics (like, "she knows my ship is sinking, but that's okay; i've always liked the water.") chart a course through the everyday truths that linger in the back closets of our lives. Bravo to Haley for "...the size of planets." It's a great album in a day when there is so much music and so little actually worth listening to. Buy a copy for yourself, and buy copies for all of your friends. You can even pretend you found her first. I won't tell.

Haley croons at the end of "Car Wreck," "I sing about the things I love/I sing about the things I love...." To sing about what one loves can be personal, painful and open. Haley, on ...The Size of Planets, conveys all three. Frankly, I don't know if Haley is bearing her soul or if the people in her songs are characters, but, if she is singing about herself, I have not heard such a personal album since Jesse Eubanks' West Coast Politics, East Coast Love. Not only are her lyrics thought provoking and emotive, but the passion in her voice is not overwrought nor unconvincing but beckons the hearer to listen intently to her story. The album is laden with organ, acoustic guitar, and stripped down drums. The instrumentation provides dramatic accents to her voice that enhance rather than distract.

Each individual song on this album is a strong contribution. The themes of love, innocence lost and growing up are all treated freshly and personally. Her writing takes these potentially hackneyed themes and makes them powerful. The entire album holds together and feels fluid and consistent. "Bless This Mess" is probably the song that impacted me most on this album. It speaks of growing up, imperfection, and disillusionment. She speaks of her religious roots and how she croons for acceptance in spite of her current worldview.



Mom and dad took me to church
to learn the word
to speak it good
I'm sure I was a good enough little girl
made them proud
sing it loud
oh, mr judge it wasn't always this way
I just changed one day
realized I've strayed
a little parade
for a little girl with a freckled face
I smile wide
guess I lost my pride
guess I lost my pride


Haley goes on in detail about her change unapologetically. I find writers often avoid this type of religious laden song, and Haley makes one powerful song with her honesty. Like traditional songwriting, the song is just Haley and her acoustic guitar telling a story, but not in that trite way. She displays her ability to communicate through music in a powerful way through this song.

The opening track to the disc, "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy," begins with haunting organ and Haley's melancholy vocals. She sings of her love for a cowboy and her yearning for that epic context we find in westerns. That mythic setting of the range and the heroic cowboy that just might go weak in the knees just for her. This description is not to give the impression that this song sounds like a country tune. It has sparse drums and accented organ reminiscent of Low with Haley's voice carrying the melody. It is mid-tempo and moving.

Another highlight on this disc is "Car Wreck." I can hear the influence of major singer songwriters on her music here combined with Low's slow build. She starts the song quiet and is able to build to multiple crescendos throughout the course of the song. There is jangley guitar, stripped down drums and distant hints of strings, organ and some electrical sounds. "Go away angels" also has an open religious feel to it. This is one of Haley's quieter songs with just accents of guitar and Haley's beautiful voice. She speaks to the angels and tells them that they are not needed and they make her nervous and, frankly, she is poor and broke but happy with her guitar. The images she conjures up are beautiful, melancholy, and powerful. "The Water" seems to hint at suicide and one's sinking while a friend notices and tries to help. This is another stripped down song with snare keeping time and the organ once again. Haley's voice is put on an echo effect and it really brings the lyrics alive.

All in all, I would call this disc powerful. Haley seems like a seasoned songwriter. Her voice is compelling, and she backs that voice up with meaningful lyrics and music that gives itself to the song. She croons and begs the hearer to listen and I sure will be listening for sometime to come.

I discovered Haley Bonar on myspace. Her music is beautiful in a dark and haunting way that will leave you changed. "Car Wreck" is my favorite track. Discovering the beauty of the life as you lay dying on a highway..... who else could make it so moving and so real? This is great stuff.....

I caught Haley at a concert where she opened for Low, the band we actually went to see. I was immediately captivated. I talked about her so much that my fiance had to buy the CD for me for Christmas. I had Size of Planets in my CD player for 2 months straight after getting it. It is so heartfelt and genuine that it's hard to listen to anything on the radio after hearing it. She is truly talented. Her voice might not be what would win on American Idol but, to me, that's a good thing. It is unique and touches the listener in a wonderful way. I definitely recommend this CD to anyone who wants to experience what music is really about.

Jesus, I heard "Drinking Again" a while ago and liked it a lot, but I listened to another song (that I don't remember the name of anymore) and decided that overall I didn't like her. Somehow I tried again around 18 months later and said "HOLY CRAP" to every song. She's an amazing singer-songwriter, I think I'm in love with her. Great melodies to boot. Sounds almost like a much more folksy version of Dido.

I can't wait until her new album comes out next month. :)

Fact is, I'm a large guy, kinda fat, kinda husky. Picture me sitting at a Haley Bonar show at Greenman festival in Duluth, on a break from volunteering (because I just hadta go see her again). Picture me sitting there indian style, surrounded by 13 year old girls, pretty much crying at the sound of Haley's voice.

I don't know what it is, maybe its my connection to Duluth (I lived there 4 years before moving back to Minneapolis), maybe its cuz she's so hot.. I don't know... it just conjures up such powerfull feelings.

I don't listen to much other music like this, with the exception of Martha Wainwright which has about the same effect.

this album is excellent, haley bonar is a creative and talented songwriter and lyricist. have not heard her previous work, but haley is the best thing to happen to indie-folk in a long, long time (besides neko case). original and dreamy, moody and flowing. buy this record -- support independent music!

This is very pleasant-sounding music on the surface. However, beneath a superficially pretty and poignant angst that some listeners may find very appealling, I don't hear a lot of musical or lyrical depth here. The melodies are neither very inventive nor memorable, and the lyrics, while heartfelt, strike me as the kind of verse you could find in just about any thoughtful young person's poetry journal. (The lyric cited by a previous reviewer as evidence of her songwriting being "mature well beyond her years" - My ship is sinking but that's okay I've always liked the water - rather seems to me to be, quite the contrary, a perfect example of sophomoric poignancy.) The voice is also very pleasant but hardly great. I don't mean to be unkind to this artist; I don't think she's terribly bad overall, just mediocre. I think we live in a time where most popular music is such garbage that something like this sounds absolutely great in comparison. But you really need to raise the bar higher before you can call someone a great talent or songwriter. From the raves of her loyalists you'd think we have a new Joni Mitchell here, and the songs just aren't anywhere near that level. There's certainly no shame if you genuinely like this, but claims of excellence and greatness are really overdone. Potential buyers should give a good listen to the samples and decide for themselves before taking the plunge.