Happy pt 2. Douglas Firs

Three Douglas First albums can be found here but after 2017 things became quiet. At least here. With Happy pt2 Gertjan van Hellemont returns, older (39), wiser and more mellow than I remember and all the influences and resemblances still can be heard today. With 'Shimmer & Glow' I already wrote that Douglas Firs looked firmly into the rearview mirror musically. On the new album that happens even more, as if Van Hellemont in part was inspired also by the music his (grand)parents listened to when they were young.

What Happy pt 2 foremost is, is an album that allows itself to be listened to in an extremely smooth way. An album that is everything but dangerous, o.k. it has one or two moments,without becoming too sweet or mellow. The strings could be transposed to a Doris Day or Debbie Reynolds single from the 1950s with ease, the drums and bass cannot. The strings make the album sound familiar to my generation, having heard these kind of songs when our parents played their old singles and albums, but a younger generation? I doubt it. The combination Douglas Firs creates here is a delicate one, because usually I would discard an album like it. I do when I'm in the mood for something tougher, some Amyl and The Sniffers when I was cooking tonight. When eating though Happy pt 2 certainly is a good choice.

Luckily Van Hellemont is not afraid to jump the gun. Just listen how the guitar jumps overboard in 'Back To That Day', suggesting that going back has become impossible with all the pain and anguish coming from that. Is it therefore that the next song is called 'I Miss You'? He sings about his son to his mother who is no longer there. About the questions you never even thought of asking when it was still possible. The song touches on the exact right sentiment, with longing horns and a quizzical, searching piano moving through the melody. The song becomes a little jazzy, with the sax taking the mood and sound from Sonny Rollins' solo in The Rolling Stones' 'Waiting On A Friend'.

Promo photo: Francis Vanhee

Things do get tougher on Happy pt 2. Douglas Firs plays its own form of alternative rock in 'Start Again', showing the above mentioned guitar solo was no accident. The song ends in swath of strings though, changing the mood totally. In between we can his son babbling away in the song.

With the folk ballad 'It Isn't Me' pedal steel guitar and all, Douglas Firs shows its enormous diversity on the album. Each song brings a new surprise. The musicality is striking though. 'Just To Get It Right' is another ballad but so different. Beauty exists in music and this song is proving it does. The atmospherics change my world a little when listening to it. The horns hover over the song, as do the pedal steel and the electric guitar's sparse notes. The way everything is mixed is very decisive for the mood of this song.

By then Douglas Firs has totally convinced me. More so than on albums two and three. (I've missed number four.) By moving through genres and decades the band not only shows diversity but also grasping the essence of it all. This is what shows foremost on Happy pt 2 and makes for extremely pleasant listening. And then the Stonesy country gospel of 'Magazine' still has to come, as do three more songs. Let me leave you alone with the album to find out for yourself.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can order Happy pt 2 here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/products/douglas-firs-happy-pt-2