I can’t put my finger on who Helio Sequence remind me of, but that is a good thing. I suspect it is because they have a unique yet familiar sound that is immediately appealing. There is something very Flock of Seagullsish about the title track, Keep Your Eyes Ahead. And close to the end of the album in Broken Afternoon you can hear Bob Dylan’s influence. It’s very beautiful and very transparent.
But my favorite song on the album is the first track, Lately. Listen to the song and think of each line as a fib, as if the singer is trying to convince himself that his words are true. It’s a very powerful song.
Helio’s lyrics are understandable, literate and interesting with enough vagueness but not too much to be meaningful.
This is my favorite album so far this year. I won’t be surprised if it ends up on my 10 best for the year.
Artist: The Helio Sequence
Album: Keep Your Eyes Ahead 
Label: Sub Pop Records
Download: Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Linked from their website…go check it out.)
27/02/2008 at 10:06 pm Permalink
James,
Thanks for introducing this song to me… I was listening to my Podcast Smart List on my iPod when this song started playing. I couldn’t figure out how it got into my play list until I saw the source, jamesb.com. So now I’ll go download it and have it as part of my permanent collection. Thanks James.
-greg
27/02/2008 at 10:09 pm Permalink
Oh yeah, Tonya says they sound like Echo and the Bunnymen… I disagree, I think they sound like the Psychedelic Furs.
-greg
28/02/2008 at 6:08 am Permalink
The Helio Sequence Keep Your Eyes Ahead good album but i can’t download it
28/02/2008 at 10:08 am Permalink
I like this song also. It stirs emotions for sure. It’s hard when you love someone so incredibly and try to convince your heart otherwise. Anyhow, most situations don’t carry blame. Well, you can blame it on things like circumstances or timing, but not on the person I’d say, who couldn’t help but go to the person their heart beats with.
28/02/2008 at 10:35 am Permalink
It’s hard to convince the heart of anything but the truth.