HELLbus - Or Do I?

Hear The Track Here

Well, well, look at what we have here. Is this a corpse I see before me? For those who automatically assumed that now Can't Stop The Daggers had become Soundclick's darlings, HELLbus had died a death, think again. The common link, of course, being Jon Partelow. HELLbus is the first persona I encountered in early 2006 with an absolute string of scorching hot tracks, all of which still adorn my hard drive. The fact is that I admire Jon Partelow as a musician and songwriter and I am not ashamed to say so, this is a gifted musician who deserves to be recognised by a much larger audience and - CSTD willing - that will be rectified. So, I looked forward to a bit of solo masterb.....(??) eek! er I mean work with the oddly named Ordoi. Yep I think I covered up that small faux pas quite well. Only to fail completely by not recognising the real title of the track. Right throughout the review process, I constantly referred to it as that, it wasn't until I started to write this review that I actually noticed that it was English.

Anyway, no matter. The meds have kicked in now.

Or Do I is pretty much a live demo, as is a lot of the work I am getting from this artists lately. Not that I am complaining because this guys demos make other peoples track quake. Trust me on this, I'm a reviewer (Ed: eh? wtf?) What always saves this artist is his unerring skill as a songwriter and that is pretty much what you get. Assisted by Matt Rickard is on accoustic guitar, HELLbus supplies the rest with an excellent piano line that carries the full weight of the track. If you think that - at this stage - my nose couldn't get much browner, I'd say that before you start hurling insults in my direction go and listen to the track itself. Or indeed anything by the aforementioned Can't Stop The Daggers and HELLbus himself.

Or Do I has everything I would expect from a track, enough light and shade and subtle nuances to keep even me occupied as long as its playing. It's the outro that slays me though, every time. Obviously don't expect too much in the way of lavish arrangement though because there is only so much you can do with piano, guitar and vocals. HELLbus gives everything equal weight and that helps to put the song across in its best light. This is certainly something I would like to hear given the treatment (ie recorded properly) or failing that, become a CSTD track. There again, HELLbus may well be a dead 'un but not judging by this....

Excellent (if basic) song. Highly Recommended.