The indie rock band Freelance Whales have come along way over the course of the summer and alot of that success is down to this deliciously lovely song, "Hannah," a song that references the mumblecore film "Hannah Takes the Stairs." Subtle as it may be, the name check has the slightest air of affectation-the Queens band proving it belongs among the Brooklynites. Freelance Whales are definitely a new favorite. they are a pretty young band based out of Brooklyn, not surprisingly, where a lot great music come from. The group have carried their 2009 debut, "Weathervanes" well into 2010 with an April re-release on "Frenchkiss." Here is the Stereogum premiere of their third single, "Hannah," featuring my favorite lyric from the album, "We could argue over where and when the cymbal hits should be."Freelance Whales found one another in late 2008, in Queens, New York, amidst a strange amalgam of unfamiliar instruments, and precariously arranged pop songs. Using whatever musical gadgets they happened upon, the five members worked at crafting songs with interlocking rhythmic patterns, lush textural layering, and an engaged group-vocal energy. The result is their debut, "Weathervanes," whose songs work at evoking a sense of dislocation, or sensory disorientation. They invite the human spirit to exit the body, if only for brief moments. Freelance Whales can be spotted in the streets and humble venues of New York City, and in due time, elsewhere.
Freelance Whales songs always mix electronic and analog, but the way the synth mixes with harmonium on "Hannah" is particularly warm and bubbly. Vocalist Judah Dadone delivers track's lyrics in a quick half-whisper, as if he's scared of the song's namesake. Hannah's either a ghost or a girl as inscrutable as one. The track's video stays close the lyrics — the line "if you're vaguely attracted to rooftops" accompanies shots of the band on the roof, playing "Hannah" on something resembling a carnival game. And there's the beautiful barefoot ghost girl, and a kid who is too scared to directly interact with her. The video was directed by Issac Ravishankara and Ariel Danziger" Maybe less visually striking than "The Reeling," the video holds it's own by being just enough moody and fitting the song just as much.
To call them multi-instrumentalists might be a little overdone. The kids in Freelance Whales are really just collectors, at heart. They don't really fancy buffalo nickels or Victorian furniture, but over the past two years, they've been collecting instruments, ghost stories, and dream-logs. Somehow, from this strange compost heap of little sounds and quiet thoughts, songs started to rise up like steam from the ground. Though certainly not a provocative or dangerous band, Freelance Whales are marked by a distinct lack of cynicism that makes for a bright listening experience. The group seems to ultimately make music because they enjoy it, and that's never a bad thing.
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