Hello, Dear Wind

All the reasons why you fell in love with Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea are the same reasons why you should check out Hello, Dear Wind, the second offering from Baltimore's Page France. Singer/songwriter Michael Nau fronts the merrymaking collective with his boyish sweetness and spotless vocal delivery, and that alone will make your indie rock heart swoon ten times over. Nau does not pretend to be another worldly poetic troubadour wise beyond his years; everyone already knows that such a title belongs solely to Conor Oberst. Nau's music speaks for itself, and fans of the Decemberists' Colin Meloy and Richard Edwards of Margot & the Nuclear So and So's should quickly warm up to this storybook of carefully mended broken hearts and dreams of future travels. From the blushing hints of optimism of "Chariot" and "Junkyard" to chamber pop oddities such as "Elephant" and "Cindy," Hello, Dear Wind is a pure delight. Its overall presentation is absolutely majestic with its sweeping acoustic guitars and bright harmonies — vocalist Whitney McGraw's girlish nature is a perfect match to Nau's bashful disposition on the childlike "Finders." Page France write simple songs for the daydreamer in everyone. Hello, Dear Wind will be your voice of love and luck, if you let it.