Her Space Holiday "Self-Titled" - Album Review

Before Ariel was pink, before the Kurt was vile, before clouds did nothing—there was Marc Bianchi and Her Space Holiday.

Dude was indie before you.

Dude was making recordings of high and low tech dream pop in his home since 1996 (that’s 15 years, bub).

Dude has always been independently and consistently interesting (if not always “good”) since before Modest Mouse had ever released an album and definitely is the precursor to the whole made-a-record-in-my-room-scene that is so prevalent these days.

Bianchi has been constantly updating or reducing his sound to his artistic whims with no regard to trend or fashion since before there was reality TV. Fifteen years for Christ sakes! But according to reports, Bianchi has since closed up shop on the Her Space Holiday name and his new release will be the last under the this moniker. And surprisingly, what Bianchi has given us is a batch of warm, string-laden baroque pop.

Her Space Holiday starts out with “Anything for Progress” and like much of the record, it boasts catchy pop melodies delivered by Bianchi‘s quirky nerd-as-cool, herky jerky delivery. Strings and light orchestra instrumentation play a large role on HSH. The sweet and simple arrangements recall a Lou Adler/Mamas and Papas mid-60s California kind of sound. Lazy pop languidly delivered like Bianchi is in no hurry to get to where he is going to. “Shonanoko” has almost a vaudeville or pre-rock quality but is recorded and mixed with state of the art equipment and never forgetting its indie roots. Besides the strings, the other running theme through this record is group chorus sing-alongs. An interesting choice seeing how sparse some of HSH’s records have been but it looks like when Bianchi promises baroque pop, he’s “all in.” “The Hummingbirds” recalls an Edward Sharpe band-as-gang chorus, while “Come on You Soldiers” is almost a camp song sung the day before everyone goes home—full of wistful joy and impending sadness. Bianchi has a typical indie non-singer’s voice but he does well by giving himself articulate lyrics and bounding melodies that don’t require a trained vocalist.

There is a warmth to Her Space Holiday that is almost disarming. Maybe Bianchi is showing signs of what his next project will be—maybe this is just his calling but if this is indeed the last Her Space Holiday record, Marc Bianchi has done himself proud.

Words: Stephe Sykes