into a pretty room is lots of hands’ new album and Fire Talk Records debut. Conceived through painful moments of growth and grief, lots of hands presents a pastoral collection of songs that offers up a warm hug, surely to ward off any of your remaining seasonal depression.

Twinkling piano, and androgynous hums welcome us into Dryden and Woodhouse’s world on opening track “alive.” It’s an eerily-sparse song, but is effective in painting a world for us to exist in for the 14 song album. Playful guitar loops provide the perfect backdrop for Dryden and Woodhouse’s vocals to intertwine on “barnyard.” “Old girl / lay down / i’ve never known a soul like hers / living in a barnyard,” they whisper. There’s a blend of organic and digital textures that exists in the music of lots of hands, giving it a timeless, liminal feeling. Hank Williams inspired “game of zeroes” also features more eclectic sound collages. Phil Elverum-esque organ peers in and out, a saturated drum shuffle sits beneath buoyant piano and swaying slide guitar. I’m a sucker for a melancholic indie-folk ballad so already this album is scratching a familiar itch for me.

The songwriting duo of Dryden and Woodhouse share an effortless chemistry that could be accounted for by their long time friendship. Having first connected at a music program in Newcastle at the age of 16, they’ve been collaborating since adolescence. 2020’s mistake was lots of hands first album, but was a Woodhouse solo effort. Dryden properly joined lots of hands for their follow up records there’s someone in this room just like you and fantasy, but was mostly confined to sharing demos and parts remotely. into a pretty room is the duo’s first proper collaboration. Dryden often making the trek across the vast northern English countryside to Woodhouse’s bedroom studio to work on the album. Dinosaur. Jr. akin headbanger “rosie” really showcases the duo’s chemistry. Intertwining vocals rise above raucous guitars and unrelenting drums. “backseat 30” showcases some similar tonal qualities to “rosie” that I absolutely adore.

The juxtaposition between the soft, pretty acoustic-balladry, and the feedbacking, distorted guitar work is something I can never get enough of. Selfishly, I wish there were more songs like this one on the album but Dryden and Woodhouse’s ability to craft haunting indie-folk is so strong that the trade-off is completely worth it.

“And all of my friends agree / you’re in my head” Woodhouse meditates on “in b tween.” Accompanied by soft harmonies from mage tears, “in b tween” serves as a rumination on grief, loss and moving forward. “I’m walking around my room / for things in between,” they sing. I love simple lyricism that is effective in painting a picture and setting a mood for the listener. I’m sure a lot of us have found ourselves in a place of comfort, impatiently pondering the past, playing reruns of mistakes in our head, wishing we could do things differently. To me, that’s what this song, and many others on into a pretty room feel like.

The production on into a pretty room is something else that’s worth highlighting. In a world where bedroom production is something that is becoming more and more prominent, I find a lot of the sound palettes we find on “homemade” recordings to be a bit oversaturated. Not on into a pretty room. I found myself being surprised around every corner by the diverse array of production techniques and sounds on the album. There’s no shortage of mainstay folk instrumentation on the album, but there’s also a healthy dose of contemporary sounds as well to keep it interesting.

For fans of Alex G, Phil Elverum, Sparklehorse, and Woody Guthrie, listeners will find themselves right at home with the new album into a pretty room by lots of hands.

Pre-order into a pretty room by lots of hands HERE