The Quiet Part (EP)

Delaney Hafener & Pete Mancini

Independent release, 2024

http://thebellecurves.com

REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/20/2024

What is it about the pairing of male and female voices?

So often, almost regardless of the quality of the material itself, it just works. Assuming both parties have some idea of what they’re doing, and the material being performed is of decent quality, the intertwining of female and male vocal timbres and tones often creates a unique sort of sonic alchemy.

And if they’re actually both quite accomplished songwriters and vocalists? Hot damn.

Delaney Hafener is a Long Island singer-songwriter-bandleader-multi-instrumentalist-producer whose musical vehicle The Belle Curves exists in different times and places as everything from Hafener performing solo with an acoustic guitar to serving as the bass player/frontwoman for a six-piece band. Between that and an academic and professional background in studio production, Hafener knows her way around a song in every respect.

Pete Mancini first came to my attention as frontman for Long Island quartet Butchers Blind, before launching a solo career that has already seen the singer-songwriter collaborate with the likes of Iain Mathews (Fairport Convention), Matt Patton and Jay Gonzalez (Drive-By Truckers), and the iconic Jimmy Webb. In addition to performing solo and with his live band The Hillside Airmen, Mancini is among the ringleaders of both Full Circle (A Tribute to The Byrds) and The Famous Doctor Scanlon Band, playing the songs of his late friend Travis McKeveny.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Working the same New York-New Jersey circuit, Hafener and Mancini crossed paths numerous times, complimenting one another’s work and threatening to collaborate for more than a song or two for many years, until in late 2023, it finally happened. They co-wrote a couple of songs, learned a few more, set aside some time in the studio, and created this sparkling EP of acoustic duo tunes that positively overflows with both talent and good vibes.

The album allows each performer to mine a specific, common element of their otherwise rangy styles: harmony-rich acoustic folk-rock with pointed, penetrating lyrics. Hafener supplies the brighter tones with her lilting alto, while Mancini provides some darker ones with his keening baritone.

The duo—who stick to the pure two-voices-and-two-acoustic guitars formula all the way through—open things up with the title track. The first of a pair of co-written tunes, “The Quiet Part” is beautifully crafted, a piercing lament about alienation and dissolution built around that familiar, pungent phrase “Did you have to say the quiet part out loud?”

Hafener’s “Songs For Brooklyn” takes a loping, playful path to its wry, bittersweet, and oh-so-NYC refrain: “I’m singing songs about Brooklyn / But I’m in Queens.” Her aptly-named “Tenderly” is ballad with just those overtones, a gentle attempt to let someone down easy.

Batting cleanup, “Feature Length Film” is the other Hafener/Mancini co-write and sole track to feature the latter on lead vocals, chronicling a fervent crush that keeps the narrator too enraptured to actually do anything about it. This concise 18-minute EP closes out with a cover of “Blues Run The Game” that allows both parties to show off their love of the classics as their voices mesh, bob and weave wonderfully.

One other point: maybe it’s the added years of experience, or maybe it was the challenge of matching vocal wits with the luminous Hafener, or maybe a little of both, but to these ears The Quiet Part features some of Mancini’s finest vocal work to date.

The Quiet Part arrives and departs quickly and is clearly a bit of a lark, a pair of musical pals having a good time in the studio without any larger purpose in mind. But there’s enough magic in the intertwining of these two voices and musical sensibilities that if Delaney Hafener and Pete Mancini ever decide to do this again, you can absolutely count me in. This pairing doesn’t just work—it soars.

Rating: B+

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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