Hartfield: True Color, True Lie (2003)

Very few out there might remember the Seven Winters compilation CD, featuring the likes of Airiel, Luminous Orange, and one of my all-time favorites: Hartfield! Hartfield was a Japanese shoegaze band, formed sometime in 2000 by Takateru Kagawa and Yukari Tanaka, both of whom were vocalists and guitarists. There's very little information about them online, and their former website, www.hartfieldweb.com became defunct around February 2009.

Though their MySpace page was last active around may of 2008, Hartfield quietly disbanded shortly after a U.S. tour with Airiel (another one of my favorite bands) in 2005. Since then, a cover of Hanamizuki featuring Yo Hitoto has mysteriously appeared on their Spotify page around August 2023, though there doesn't seem to be much information surrounding this collaboration between Hartfield and Yo Hitoto.

Prior to their U.S. tour and sudden disappearance, Hartfield first found their footing with the 2001 CD compilation, Seven Winters, released by the label, G.A.C. on May 16 of that year. The CD featured an early version of Girl Like You by Hartfield, in which Yukari Tanaka's singing is drowned out under layers of reverb, reverse delay effects, and a very clean-sounding electric guitar. Following this compilation, the band would release their full album, True Color, True Lie on October 24, 2003 under the label, Vinyl Junkie Recordings in Japan. Clairecords would release a U.S. issue of the album on Feburary 10, 2004.

Distortion, reverb, delay... what else could one want?

Reason

I've rambled about the enigmatic nature of the band plenty, so I'll get on with the review! True Color, True Lie starts off strong with the first track in the list, Reason. The track's instrumentals drown out the singer's voice, as was the case with the Seven Winters demo of Girl Like You, though they serve the song well in this instance. Multi-tracked, distorted guitars have been panned left and right, set at a lower gain to allow the drums and bass some headroom. Tanaka's vocals feels both sad and sweet in this track as she sings about the growing emotional distance between two people.

While some people grow distant over fights, Reason is a song about two people simply growing apart over time. In particular, Tanaka laments the growing distance between herself and someone she once loved, bitterly accepting that they are not the same person that she once knew long before. This song hits close to home for me. It always hurts to watch someone you love push themselves away from you, and Hartfield conveys that pain so beautifully in this track.

Girl Like You

The second track, Girl Like You, was my introduction to this band. The very first time I heard the demo for this track on the Seven Winters CD, I was completely floored by it. This track has a very distinctly early 2000s sound to it. The instrumentals are bubbly, charming, and feel like they would complement a frutiger aero scene well. Listening to this track, one can imagine green, wind-swept hills, wind turbines, butterflies, and prismatic soap bubbles blowing across the grass.

Tanaka's vocals come across more clearly in this song and speak to feelings of jealousy and alienation (at least from what I can interpret). I'm a bit rusty when it comes to speaking Japanese, but I interpret the "girl" in this song to be part of a world that the singer largely feels alienated from. My biggest takeaway from this song is that it sounds pretty and feels nostalgic!

Review Wrap-Up

I know I only reviewed two tracks in depth for this blog post, but I really don't want this page to become an UNGODLY length (lest any poor web surfers break their scroll wheel while reading). I'll close off with a general overview of True Color, True Lie, and my opinion of it. Maybe I'm biased or blinded by nostalgia, but there isn't a single bad track on this album. Takateru Kagawa and Yukari Tanaka both put a lot of love and care into this album and it shows. Most tracks are dominated by distorted and reverb'd guitars, but Kagawa also gets the spotlight in a few softer tracks like Wonderful World.

Every song on this album feels both timeless and like a product of its time. After all, the band drew a lot of heavy inspiration from older shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine. In fact, Hartfield actually recorded a cover of Soon by MBV! It's been given a Hartfield flavor and sounds quite lovely. For any readers tuning in, I recommend checking out this defunct band and their discography!