The Hotelier

by Ben Gladman

The Hotelier bring their bracing emo-rock to Thekla on the 26th of January. And no, not emo as in My Chemical Romance, but emo as in American Football or Brand New; music that revels in melodrama with a collegiate intelligence, coloured by intricate guitar lines and delicate big band touches. After bursting onto the scene with 2014’s shattering Home, Like No Place Is There, The Hotelier returned this year in May with their critically acclaimed third album Goodness and a more diverse sound. For one, the album opens with a poem, one which returns in several interludes either chanted or sung over a campfire. The quieter moments find their counterparts in rousing numbers such as lead single Goodness Pt. 2, whose relentless drums could fill the biggest arena. In short, The Hotelier are likely to bring the same emotive energy that won them fame, but this time they’ll bring it with more range than ever before: quiet and loud, joyous and sad, composed and raw.