Hello Sadness

iTunes Review

Gareth Campesinos!—songwriter and frontman for the quirky Welsh band Los Campesinos!—must be suffering some serious heartache. Right off, Hello Sadness serves up a bit of melancholy on the lilting and catchy “By Your Hand.” The band tries to break out of it on the upbeat “Songs About Your Girlfriend,” but Gareth just sounds irritated. After the title track—where guitars buzz and hum and a pleading chorus burrows into your ear—Los Campesinos! seem content to proceed in the slow lane; even handclaps can’t pull them into the giddy ether they usually inhabit. It’s a thoughtful outing, carefully paced and feeling a bit like classic Cure, or even The Smiths for that matter. It's soundtrack music for growing pains, the kind of songs that might make you cringe in your 40s but that tell your story perfectly at 28 (or 38, which is the new 28, right?). “Every Defeat a Divorce (Three Lions)” might seem melodramatic, but Los Campesinos! are talented storytellers, and this one’s a weeper. Whether it’s an ode to a soccer team or unrequited love isn’t clear, but it pulls at heartstrings nonetheless.