by Seth Daspit (@gazeisdone)
Whenever Steve Hartlett comes to mind, I am reminded of a Current Joys lyric from their ambient ballad “Don’t Be Consumed.” Nick Rattigan says, “I don’t know you / You don’t know me / But you still hear what I have to say.” Hartlett is special in the sense that there’s a following from whatever moniker he is under. Beyond Ovlov and Stove, 1/2 is Hartlett’s sixth solo release. His songwriting kinks are visible yet fresh, and his personality shines through with familiarity.
Hartlett has an exposing gift of giving listeners an insight into who he is as a person through his music, leaving a conversation unfinished. If you’re a tune-connoisseur, you want to exchange album recommendations. If you’re a smoker, you want to ask just exactly what Camel Steve likes. If you’re in a band, you want to ask what show spaces are in his hometown of Newtown, Connecticut. Beside the retrospective impact 1/2 has, musically there are comforting acoustics, soothingly distant vocals, and a gaze-tactic of background noise used on songs like “Sea Floor #2” and the affectionately named “Jumpy and Lumpy’s Discount Records.”
On “Theodore George the 3rd,” there are sounds of twinkles complimenting descending and ascending riffs – this song is the soundtrack to any nightwalking wonders you could imagine. “WE” is a fitting close with a loud, (seemingly) minimalistic opening riff, accompanied by similar twinkles. The song is a methodical and emotion-inducing climax.
Bandcamp user DRRRK commented, “Listen loudly and the world looks better for a moment.” Writing from a mostly bland university library on an overcast day, I can agree.