Working away from a group of fellow band members, a single songwriter can reveal that bit more, dig that little deeper, and be that bit more honest, all while not having to worry about how others will shape it and transform it. This is Michael Hesslein’s thinking: “When you’re working with a band, you don’t get to put yourself into the music as much, it’s about the band as a whole…I wouldn’t dig too deep. I think I was afraid what being that vulnerable might bring out in myself.” After years of being the lead songwriter and vocalist of the self-described “booze-soaked Grunge Gospel/Country Blues rock” band Mail the Horse, Hesslein has decided to unveil his own work, writing and recording for his own ends, and looking to be that more vulnerable on record.
As HESS, Hesslein presents a brief eight-track album that explores faith, loss, and finding existential calm in the world. Lamplight Motel has plenty of the feel you might assume from the title – neon lights of strip malls, lonely motel rooms, and a sort of everyday unadorned façade that blends into the surroundings. It sounds at its best when it swirls all these feelings together over a sense of personal woe.
“Believer Outta Me” explores faith during times of loss, adorned with a wistful and introspective hymnal acoustic charm, much like the solo albums of Brandon Flowers where he explored his country roots. Album highlight “I’ll Drive” does a sublime job of mixing the feel of day and night, mixing echoes of Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac and vibes from Tame Impala, all while delivering this feel of letting the wind rustle through your hair while driving a convertible down a lonely highway.
Elsewhere Hesslein lingers on more stripped-down acoustic moments. “Whisper Wildwood” leans heavily on its country inflections (maybe too much so from a vocal standpoint, Hesslein bending some notes a little too loosely for anyone’s ear to enjoy), but the track gets a little too wrapped up in wanting to be confessional while also draping itself in a haunting aura. On “No Delays (for Josephine)”, you can hear the heartache in the contours of his voice, but the delivery has lyrics lost. “Words caught by the wind,” he sings gently at one point, and it feels all too applicable.
When not stripping away the layers, Hesslein (assisted by Paul Hammer in the studio) relies on vintage synths and drum machines to create a sense of mood and location. “Red Clouds” finds a good sense of momentum when the beat and keys kick in, but the track feels like it’s swimming about gently, waiting to really get started – which it never quite does. It almost would have been better as an instrumental for a “Chill Driving Vibes” playlist, at least until a better idea was weaved in around the music. “Rented Rooms” conjures up that neon glow as hints of EDM surface between the drum machine claps and keyboard chords. Again, it sounds best when the music is left to churn and chatter away, especially in the final minute of the song as Hesslein sings high notes into the distance.
These middling-to-disappointing tracks are all the more of a let down after the album begins so strongly. Opener “Long Dream” introduces a feisty tempo with nifty guitar work and falsetto yelps jumping over and between; there’s hope in the words, but also a sense of sincere enjoyment embedded in it (something which never quite simmers to the surface again on Lamplight Motel). Followed by the one-two slow punch of “Believer Outta Me” and “I’ll Drive”, the album holds so much promise that is never delivered. Beyond the album’s third song, the only other real takeaway is the closing title track. Hesslein sings with a plainspoken sadness over blocky piano chords, evoking images of a hospital bedside. “Every man needs a way out,” he offers, and it’s a sincere exit he makes as a brief hum of synths wraps up the song in a moment of teary warmth.
One thing can’t be overstated enough though: “I’ll Drive” is a bonafide hit. It presents the power and escape of just getting in a car and escaping the world by driving the American landscape, a concept that feels familiar thanks to decades of songs, films, and TV shows showing us this. It’s an earworm without trying hard to be, and Hesslein’s falsetto only elevates the track to make it feel like it’s soaring along the highway.
If Lamplight Motel were a short EP with the first three tracks then it would be a success, but because almost half of the album falls away to being forgettable motel artwork, it suffers. There’s genuine joy to be found in transitional moments between the tracks, sure, but specifics of songs are lost after “I’ll Drive”; they’re confessional in tone but a hook (both musical and lyrical) simply isn’t there too much of the time. And that’s made all the worse by Hesslein’s delivery, which leaves a lot to be desired and even simply understood. Even during the barest moments on the album like “No Delays”, syllables and vowels melt into each other. You can tell Hesslein is being vulnerable, but it’s hard to appreciate that as words are lost to the wind. It seems mean to say, but maybe it would have been better to just shut up and drive.
