Nettwerk Records
2006
Hem
No Word From Tom
About This Album
If it sounds somewhat odd to switch labels and release an album of "covers, rarities, outtakes, demos and live recordings," that's because it is rather odd. These are the types of items, after all, that usually show up on a box set if a group stays together long enough to warrant one. Be that as it may, No Word From Tom, Hem's third album (following Rabbit Songs in 2001 and Eveningland in 2004), is made up of odds and ends from the band's five year history. The collection begins with Sally Ellyson's a cappella rendering of "All the Pretty Little Horses," one of the songs that served as her introduction to the band. The album follows with a lovely, laid-back take on "Rainy Night in Georgia," a cut custom made for the band's trademark, low-key, country-flavored arrangements. It's easy to compare the band to the Cowboy Junkies because like the Junkies, Hem takes things nice and easy; both bands are also fronted by female leads with compelling voices. Hem's sound, however, is much more folk-country, more steel than electric guitar, than the Junkies, and Ellyson's tone is lighter, more ethereal, than Margo Timmins'. The best stuff on No Word From Tom is great, and includes a version of Fountains of Wayne's "Radiation Vibe," "The Present," and R.E.M.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 and 16)

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