Hospitality | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Brooklyn, New York |
Genres | Indie pop, Rock |
Years active | 2007–2014 |
Labels | Merge Records Fire Records (UK) |
Members | Amber Papini Nathan Michel Brian Betancourt David Christian |
Past members | Gia Papini Kyle Olson |
Hospitality was an American Indie pop trio from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2007 and consisting of Amber Papini (vocals, guitar), Brian Betancourt (bass) and Nathan Michel (percussion). [1] The band was signed to Merge Records and released their first full-length album on January 31, 2012. [2] [3]
Papini and Michel met at a party at the Yale School of Music. [4] [5] [6] They later married and moved to Red Hook, Brooklyn. [7]
Hospitality released its first self-titled EP in 2008. It came about after the band met Karl Blau at a show they both played at the Cake Shop. [8] Blau heard Hospitality's soundcheck and asked if he could record them in exchange for Hospitality acting as his backing band sometime in the future. [9] The EP garnered a few favorable reviews [10] and earned Hospitality the title of band to watch from Stereogum.com. [9]
Hospitality remained quiet for the next few years as Betancourt toured with White Rabbits [11] and Papini tended to a death in the family. [12] They eventually recorded their first full-length album and signed to Merge Records in September 2011. [3] The band went on hiatus in 2016 when Papini and Michel started a family and relocated to Charleston.
The band garnered buzz from Wired , NPR and others even before releasing their debut. [13] The album was met with generally positive reviews. Pitchfork.com gave it a 7.4, [14] The A.V. Club rated it an "A−" [15] and Rolling Stone awarded 4 out of 5 stars. [16] Whitney Matheson of USA Today's 'Pop Candy' named it her album of the week after its debut. [17]
The album was listed at #32 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012, saying "Indie-pop cuteness this severely catchy doesn’t come around too often." [18]
The first video from the album, for the song "Friends of Friends," debuted on Stereogum.com on January 23, 2012. It featured Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development , comedian Kurt Braunohler and Gabe Delahaye of Videogum.com. [19]