Hollow Sun

The debut CD release from Heliopolis! Featuring former members of Mars Hollow, Rocket Scientists, Ten Jinn, and Gabble Ratchet! Formed in Los Angeles in the summer of 2012, Heliopolis set out determined to celebrate the uplifting power of music. They began writing their debut album, “City of the Sun,” while simultaneously undertaking a string of acclaimed live performances where the band proved their viability and commitment to excellence onstage, wowing audiences with their energy, intensity, musicianship and songwriting. Heliopolis compose intricately detailed long-form songs based on memorable melodies, 4-part vocal harmonies, outstanding musicianship and thought-provoking lyrical subject matter, delivered by five musician friends who share a commitment to passion, sincerity, and integrity.

Hymn Binding has a musty scent that rises up from its ink-stained pages (or inky bars of music) once opened, but it has an inner strength, and an inner resolve, in spite of its age-old music. Solemn strings openly roam through its shadowy tracks, searching for something lost – they have known heartache and the desperate tug of despair – but the ill-light only deepens their disappointment as the unfulfilled strings return home with empty hands. Aged piano melodies perform a melodic ballet beside the strings, and occasionally a clearer electric guitar will cut through the low, overcast clouds. From The Mouth of the Sun’s third album – and their first for the excellent American label, Lost Tribe Sound – has a gloomy, mournful air to it, but its music weakly stands up to the slow freefall of gradual decline. Systems are failing. Everything looks to be crumbling, fencing the music in, but its rust still darkly gleams. The piano is dusty and creaking, but wise, and the strings seek them out.