Spoken word emo is a very niche, marmite genre. For every person who worships of the altar of La Dispute, Listener and Mewithoutyou there’s another who would rather stick pins in their eyes than listen to someone read slam poetry over an Appleseed Cast instrumental. If you’re the latter, then there’s not much sense reading on. If you’re the former, you may well find something to love about the latest offering from Hotel Books.
The first thing that jumps out about ‘Equivalency’ is the lyrics, which are quite frankly stunning. It’s impossible to pick out a specific line from the sprawling maps of prose created by sole member Cam Smith, as this definitely isn’t a record of soundbites. It’s a record of essays; every line is packed to the brim with eloquent, poetic phrasings that bounce rhythmically over the music. Thematically, ‘Equivalency’ is mostly about lost love, but there are also several reflective moments about surviving the music industry and the self-critical nature of being an artist that will strike a chord with many listeners. Yes, some of it is a bit pretentious and self-indulgent, but that’s the nature of the beast within the genre. Some may be turned off by Smith’s references to his faith, but for the most part these don’t clog up the content and you can’t really be mad at the guy for talking about something that’s important to him, especially within in a genre that calls for deep, personal reflection.
Unfortunately the sound of the record itself doesn’t match up to the quality of the writing. Musically there’s not really much to comment on; it’s understandably kept simple to let the words shine through, but so much so that there’s nothing memorable about it. Cam Smith’s voice is impassioned on tracks like ‘Where I Am’, but a lot of the time his delivery is fairly flat to the point that it could be literally anyone reading his words. This becomes particularly apparent on ‘Take Very Little’ which features a verse from poet/spoken word artist Chris Bernstorf, who wipes the floor with Smith by injecting a real sense of character into his section.
There are a few moments where the spoken-word sections are broken up with actual singing but they’re mostly quite contrived, particularly the saccharine-sweet chorus on ‘Fears We Create’ and the pop-punk bounce of ‘Celebration’. The latter is the poppiest, most accessible song on the album, and (intentionally) ironic about writing poppy, accessible songs and “selling out”. Whilst a clever twist, the line “I hope you’re happy mom, I wrote a happy song” is no less cringe-inducing.
Whilst there’s no doubt whatsoever that Cam Smith is a competent poet and songwriter, there’s simply nothing about ‘Equivalency’ that sets it apart from his aforementioned peers, who offer their own definitive stamp on the style. Hotel Books needs to find the niche within the niche, or be content with drawing these derivative comparisons indefinitely.
LIAM KNOWLES