Hello...x

Tristan Prettyman

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 15, 2008)
• Original Release Date: April 15, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00151HZM4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,162 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Hello, Tristan Prettyman's second album is an appealing portrait of this freewheeling San Diego, CA, native as she narrates stories about her life, loves and heartbreaks in her seductive, smoky alto. With laid-back melodies springing from finger-picked acoustic guitar, plaintive pedal-steel guitar, Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, and strings, Hello explores Prettyman's love of country-blues and folk from the '60s and '70s, on songs like the first single "Madly", as well as "Echo", and "Just A Little Bit".

Recorded over six weeks in London with Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall) and Sacha Skarbek (James Blunt, KT Tunstall), Hello delivers on the promise Prettyman raised with her 2005 Virgin Records debut Twentythree- a critically well-received collection of "bright, breezy ditties about romantic bliss" as People magazine put it in its review.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, in vein of Sarah McLachlan or Norah Jones, May 6, 2008

By	Joshua Zader "Joshua Zader" (Carson City, NV USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you like music in the vein of Sarah McLachlan or Norah Jones, you simply must check out the music of this young musician named Tristan Prettyman.

I discovered her two albums Twentythree (2005) and Hello (2008) a few days ago, and I can't stop listening.

Highly, highly recommended.

She's a bit more country than Sarah, and a bit less hokey-folksy than Norah Jones. But she gives great melody with a terrific voice. (Oops, did I just say that?) She actually does a dead-ringer for Norah in the song "Blindfold" (not one of my favorites, personally, though).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better albums of 2008, June 30, 2008

By	Vince M - See all my reviews

Tristan Prettyman is just an amazing original talent still waiting to be discovered. Somewhere between Beth Orton's soulful vocals and Norah Jones' earthy tunes, Tristan holds her own distinctive voice and guitar play. Opening track "Hello" (one of my favorites) pulls you in with quirky guitar and edgy yet smooth vocals, and sets the tone for the rest of this folk-alt-pop album that will have you drift off to the country-side river or beach somewhere. The songs are inoffensive and light, yet never lack gut and emotion; this rare combination adds sophistication and entices many repeated listenings. As other reviewers have indicated, there isn't one bad track on this album. Definitely one of the better investments I've made this year and really a steal at this price point.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Drop In The Sea Of Nondescript Singer/Songwriter Offerings, January 21, 2009

By	Philip R. Heath (Hurst, TX United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon recommended Tristan Prettyman's Hello...x to me based on my purchases/ratings of Sonya Kitchell's CDs. After listening to the samples, I decided to give it a try. I was expecting some similar pop/folk to what I had enjoyed from Kitchell. I have to say that after listening to this for about a month, I just haven't connected with it the way that I had hoped I would. The instrumentation is pretty good, but not outstanding. It slants toward acoustic and slide guitar with the occasional groove. I actually found this to be the best aspect of Hello..x. Unfortunately that means that the lyrics and vocals don't hold up their end of the bargain. On "Echo", the repeating of the word echo in the chorus is predictable and trite. If it were coming from a teen pop queen, it might be considered clever, but from a grown artist it brings more of a groan. The "additional vocalists" on "Just A Little Bit" are used in a way that seems like an attempt to pattern after Pink Floyd's "Brick In The Wall", but it is nowhere near as successful. While a chorus by definition is repetitive between verses, Hello..x is littered with lyrics that are repetitive *within* the chorus as evidenced by "when i do, you're gonna hear an echo" repeated three times in the chorus of "Echo". "Hello", "California Girl", and "You Got Me" have similar problems. This unfortunately makes the songs monotonous. Vocally, Prettyman has nothing to make her stand out from a large pack of singer/songwriters who are just plain average. While there's nothing that jumps out and makes you want to run away screaming, there's also nothing about her vocal delivery that grabs hold of you and makes you want to hear songs over and over. I would contrast this to my listening experience with KT Tunstall. The first song of her first CD, Eye To The Telescope, Tunstall gives a smooth delivery on the first verse then she transitions to an elegant falsetto during ("You're the other side of the world to me") the chorus. I'm not saying that Tunstall is the first or the best to use this technique, but it gives "Other Side Of The World" something extra that it wouldn't otherwise have. I just didn't find anything on Hello..x that set it apart vocally. Based on the vocals and lyrics of Hello..x, I think it is too early to place Tristan Prettyman any higher than run-of-the-mill. Give KT Tunstall or Sonya Kitchell a try instead.