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Tristan Prettyman
Hello...x
Release Date: 2008 04 15
Label: Virgin
Rating:

Although inspired by the beachside folk-pop of Jack Johnson, Tristan Prettyman pitches her tent further inland, where the sunny sounds of her influences can be personalized with shades of jazz and pedal steel twang. Twentythree saw the songwriter first attempting to coalesce those genres into something cohesive, and Hello...x joins the effort three years later, featuring a grown-up Prettyman whose vocals and songwriting have grown decidedly more polished. Inspired by a split with former boyfriend Jason Mraz, Prettyman fills Hello with breakup ballads and sexy, sauntering pop tunes, almost as if she's dismayed to be single but simultaneously excited to rediscover her freedom. A number of singer/songwriters have turned similar sentiments into chart-topping gold since Prettyman's emergence, and Hello occasionally aims for the same audience that gobbled up Colbie Caillat's Coco and Sara Bareilles' Little Voice. But the majority of her moves aren't so streamlined, and the bare-boned arrangements put an emphasis on the songs' hooks without coating them in layers of glossy, unnecessary sound. Even the album's most overtly poppy track, the cool 'n' cocky "Handshake," is too risqué for radio playback, since Prettyman's lyrics about being "up against the wall with [her and, instead, steadily chips away at her own niche, a move that might not garner any Jack Johnson-sized fame but does unearth such gems as "In Bloom." With pianos and strings underscoring Prettyman's somber delivery, "In Bloom" is a moving finale, a late-night ode to heartache that is so forlorn, the key doesn't even resolve itself at the end. Perhaps that's a strange move for someone who previously gravitated toward sun-kissed songcraft, but Hello is proof that Prettyman has grown into a full-fledged musician, not just a former surfer-turned-model who thought strumming chords was more promising than chasing waves. Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

Tracks:

	Title	Composer	Time
1	Hello	Prettyman	3:25
2	Echo	Prettyman	3:38
3	California Girl	Terefe, Skarbek, Prettyman	3:57
4	Madly		3:18
5	Blindfold	Prettyman	3:58
6	Handshake	Prettyman	3:47
7	War out of Peace	Terefe, Skarbek, Prettyman	3:49
8	You Got Me	Terefe, Skarbek, Prettyman	3:24
9	Don't Work Yourself Up	Skarbek, Prettyman	3:40
10	Just a Little Bit	Skarbek, Prettyman	3:39
11	Interviews	Terefe, Skarbek, Prettyman	3:35
12	In Bloom	Prettyman	3:46