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After releasing the intoxicating Rabbit Songs to much critical fanfare, New York’s Hem made the tragic mistake of signing with the ill-fated Dreamworks label, which left them hanging in limbo. Now, two years later, the good news is that Hem’s follow-up is finally out. The even better news is that Eveningland is an elegantly epic work of mystical beauty. Hem’s advance money was well spent on orchestral enhancements – tastefully provided by the Slovak National Radio Orchestra – which Hem use to locate the uncharted sonic middleground between late 60s British folk-psych and Nashville countrypolitan. But, as with Rabbit Songs, they astutely keep the focus on singer Sally Ellyson, who realizes the full potential of her seductive purr. Spellbinding stuff.