The Hey Marseilles sound is immediate, evocative, mostly acoustic, always emotive. It's classically-trained brothers Sam and Jacob Anderson on cello and viola, their strings grand and mournful on To Travels and Trunks' sweeping title track. It's the wheeze and moan of Philip Kobernik's accordion, simultaneously the gawkiest and most romantic of all instruments, opening the gorgeous "From a Terrace," and his kid-at-a-carnival Rhodes on the 6/8 spin of "Gasworks." It's Nick Ward's electric guitar on the epic "Calabasas," stretching into the distance like an open road. It's the Dixieland swagger of Patrick Brannon's trumpet on uptempo lead single "Rio"—recently Song of the Day at NPR, Spinner.com, and KEXP. It's a songwriter's urgent expression via vocalist Matt Bishop, expanded with huge singalong choruses, unraveled by a virtuoso band's sinuous arrangements. It's modern vintage, a folk-pop jam session at a vanished cabaret on the Seine, an indie rocker's fantasy of his grandparents' first kiss.
