Hello, Blue Roses: The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty...

Hello, Blue Roses could be classified as a side project

of Destroyer, if a years-long romantic relationship counted as a side project,

and if Destroyer mastermind Dan Bejar didn't maintain enough other side projects

to muddle the question of what's in the middle to begin with. As it is, Hello,

Blue Roses foregrounds Sydney Vermont, mostly as a fan of Vashti Bunyan and

Kate Bush: Her voice, beautiful at a whisper but wan when she tries to wail,

takes the lead in songs about romantic shadows and the teasing prospect of

"fruitful life." Bejar wanders in and out with backing vocals and extended

guitar lines, but the overall feeling is of two artists taking a little time

out for themselves.