HiFi Sean & David McAlmont Happy Ending Album Review by Graham Finney
When you read that “Happy Ending” was recorded at the top of an East London tower block and mixed in a beach hut, it goes some way to explaining the effortless blend of edgy London life and chilled beach vibes which soak through the tunes on this twelve-track effort. Opening with the title-track, HiFi Sean, a former indie star reinvented as an electronic adventurist and indie-soul singer David McAlmont, combine to create a sound that is infectious as it is chilled.
The soulful sound of “The Fever” punctures the air next as McAlmont’s wonderfully relaxed voice melts away over the top of a hypnotic beat to create a sound you find yourself quickly getting wrapped up in. Even when the beat picks up pace a bit, it’s all done so smoothly that you almost don’t notice the change in pace.
“Beautiful” is another showcase for McAlmont’s soul-filled vocals and if it wasn’t for the sounds crafted by his equally talented partner in crime, you feel that everything else would get lost under his almost hypnotic voice. Thankfully though, Sean Dickson (AKA HiFi Sean) is more than a match as you will hear the moment the sound of the pulsating “All In The World” hits your ears.
The tempo stays upbeat for “Diamond Dust” before the soulful sound of the wonderul “The Skin I’m In” brings everthing back down to a more chilled vibe. Elsewhere as we had into the second half of the album, “Transatlantic” finds the pair almost in a more experimental mood while that pulsing beat reappears on the mesmerizing “Real Thoughts In Real Time”.
Dickson and McAlmost wrap up this album with the dreamy “Aurora Pt 1&2” as this collision of musical minds comes to a soulful, relaxing happy ending. When two musical powerhouses join forces, there is the danger that the end result could become a mess of egos, mismatched influences and bad ideas. Nothing could be further from that in the case of “Happy Ending” an album that combines chilled vibes, soulful vibes and London energy to create a captivating and all-round effortless listening experience.
Pick your copy of the album from here.
Track Listing:
1. Happy Ending
2. The Fever
3. Beautiful
4. Hurricanes
5. All in The World
6. Diamond Dust
7. The Skin I’m In
8. Maybe
9. Transatlantic
10. Real Thoughts in Real Time
11. Otherwise
12. Aurora (parts 1 & 2)
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