On October 27th, Hotel Books will be releasing their latest offering entitled “Equivalency” via InVogue Records! They continue to smash it out of the park.
Hotel Books is the brainchild of one Cam Smith, who has taken his love for spoken word poetry and music and his love for faith and honesty and just continues to write and create some of the most well-thought out, painstakingly honest, and beauty through tragedy types of lyrics in the music. Take the lyric “She says the only way you can create art is through honest expression”. That lyric in the track “Take Very Little”, really drives the poignancy home and really showcases who Hotel Books really are.
“Equivalency” starts off with the track “From Porterville”, which starts off with a voicemail, and a haunting piano and upon first listen, it’s a perfect combination of a stream of consciousness type of writing, how he feels like he sold out from being a prophet for God in exchange for profits in the consumer market. Lyrics such as “pushing boulder up a mountain”, “darling I love you but I’m also sick”, “every echo needs a voice, every voice has a choice, but I didn’t choose you”. I’m just giving you a small sampling of the struggles and pain that Cam Smith seems to have gone through upon selling out and forgetting about one’s own hometown roots. The music sound astounding as an impressive backdrop to what Hotel Books is saying.
“Checking Best Buy to see if the record I wrote sold enough just for me to fade out and let time pass by”. The acoustic guitar in the track is haunting and beautiful. There is an obvious search for something greater than selling records and being happy as an artist. The poetry is a combination of spirituality, dark thoughts with deep regret, and being afraid to love again. The chorus soars, “Let this song be a memorial of who I was/I’m picturing a burial, but my heart is afraid of love/I’m afraid of love”. The voice message at the end of “Van Nuys”, is especially haunting with continuing that story in the album about how we are too busy for our relationships, friendships, and simply taking a time to stop and smell the roses all in the name of the almighty dollar. The wordplay in “Celebration” seems to be a subtle poke at the music industry about writing “honest” songs just to make people happy, but the lyrics provide so much more than that. Here is the video to that song below!
“Equivalency” takes you through that story of tragedy and triumph within our souls, with lyrics and words that have so much to say that every time the listener puts in this album, they will continue to unpack the vulnerability of the lyrics and the seemingly haunting feelings that this record brings about. The music provides an impressive backdrop that isn’t focused on riffs and hooks so much, but utilizing the music to tell a story throughout the album with the lyrics and spoken word feelings being put out in a full-on display. If you’re into art and expression at its finest, then go pick up “Equivalency” by Hotel Books, especially if you want a conceptualized album with deep mystery and even deeper storytelling. 9 out of 10 star record!
Here is the track listing below!
- From Porterville
- Van Nuys
- Violent Smile
- Celebration
- Fears We Create (featuring Chase Huglin)
- I Knew Better, But Did Nothing
- Take Very Little (featuring Chris Bernstorf)
- Where I Am
- I’m Almost Happy Here
- With Love
Check out Hotel Books at the following locations:
https://www.facebook.com/hotelbooksband/
Check out Hotel Books at the following tour dates:
Sunday, October 22nd at Dirty 30 in Dallas, Texas
Tuesday, October 24th- 89th Street Collective in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Wednesday, October 25th- Firebird in St. Louis, Missouri
Thursday, October 26th- Aftershock in Merriam, Kansas
Friday, October 27th- Rocketown in Nashville, Tennessee
Saturday, October 28th- Open Chord in Knoxsville, Tennessee
For tickets and further information for any of the upcoming Hotel Books shows listed above, click here!
