Finding an artist that furnishes the heart with something authentically euphonious is a rarity, however with the latest edition to the Resist Records family we have found just that. Echoing the warmth of his hometown Byron Bay, Hugo Costin-Neilsen, performing under the name of Toy Boats, delivers placid acoustic tracks that delight the spirit.
The 2009 summer transition of Costin-Neilsen from singer of hardcore band Dead Ends to acoustic artist Toy Boats mirrored that of his arrival into adulthood. Toy Boats cradles this season of youth with an aroma of hope, heart and a sense of purity that is charmingly raw. His songs are emotional yet avoid sallow self-pity adopted by many acoustic artists and exchanges the unnecessarily verbose with lo-fi simplicity. Enveloping the grace of a young Bon Iver and eliminating the agony of Bright Eyes, Toy Boats embodies a nostalgic journey where we are all invited, stopping to smell the blossoms along the way.
Whether rolling “bible page cigarettes and (waking) up in ashes” or remembering that “honeymoon period that never ends”, Toy Boats toys with tales familiar and nostalgic. Such wide-ranging appeal is sure to lift Toy Boats’ gentle acoustics to a space that penetrates genre and begs rose-tinted moments to stand still. Make sure to keep an ear out for his Resist Records debut early next year and in the mean time head over to our website to get a preview of what’s to come.
