Review Summary: These reinterpretations take songs that people may normally scoff at and gives them life; Hutcher presents them to listeners with haunted, painful memories already attached.
I love music that carries an ethereal sound, although I really couldn't tell you why it has such a strong impact on me. The same way that a memory can always come to mind when you walk into a particular building, music can also house memories; how you felt the first time you listened to an album, what you were going through, or even what happened to be floating through your mind at that time. This is why many people that look further than what is playing on the radio, whether it be the multitude of gorgeous layers in ambient music or the harsh and unforgiving onslaught of death metal. We are all seemingly searching for music to enhance and sharpen the edges of the memories we are making.
Hauntpop takes some of the less inventive music of the mainstream, slows it down, and just plain f
ucks with it until they all sound like completely different songs. More than that, Hutcher seems to give the vapid selections more meaning in his creepy renditions, adding a much more-you guessed it-
haunting atmosphere in these tracks. What may sound like a joke on paper ends up being a very worthy endeavor, especially given the success of the EP in general.
"Someone Like You" is the release's first proper song, and additionally the best song on display, taking an undulating piano line and interspersing it with pitched-down vocal melodies that carry more reverb that you can shake a stick at. Instead of the song being reliant upon Adele's ample vocals, it is instead the hypnotic chorus that carries the song. The infamous whistling section that segues into an enjoyable acoustic guitar line in "Moves" actually allows for a welcome memorability, instead of Adam Levine's annoyingly pandering lyrics mucking up the proceedings. It's a strange concept; with so much difference between the songs on display here and the originals, you would think that it may at times be hard to recognize the tracks due to the lack of immediacy. Instead, Hutcher takes care to keep the catchy melodies of the initial songs intact, thus sealing the integrity of the songs and making them wholly unique. It also does something that may not have been the intent originally, which is to show that there are some strong songwriting ideas in the songs that dominate the airwaves today no matter how poorly structured they are. Somehow amidst all of the atmospheric noise that dominates the beginning of "New Divide", Chester Bennington's passionate vocals still stand out (and for once it is a good thing), adding in music that you would never associate with Linkin Park's music. Juxtaposing the vocals with what sounds like disturbed elevator music should come across as a demented idea, but this is one of the best songs on this release.
Ultimately
Hauntpop is a great idea that is delivered on in the best way imaginable. While it may not appeal to everyone, there is an interesting dichotomy present here in that there are both catchy melodies and multi-layered ambient soundscapes present. These reinterpretations take songs that people may normally scoff at and gives them life; Hutcher presents them to listeners with haunted, painful memories already attached.
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