"Breathing Room" is the Rafters 3rd full length CD. The title track is a poignant statement on the struggles a family faces in an economy where layoffs and joblessness are pervasive while all the time remaining hopeful that better days are to come. The Rafters core is Male/Femal Vocal harmonies over top of Acoustic guitar and Electric piano. For "Breathing Room" they have enlisted some of New Englands finest players expanding their sound with Cello, Violin, Dobro, Lap Steel, and some drum loops. Recorded in their home studio between the noise of life - step inside with The Rafters and see a world where fears are faced with honesty and hope with a strong passion for family and love.

Noëlle Hampton sings like a wistful angel, her warm honeyed tones dripping with tender resignation. She’s released four albums under her own name, all marked by uplifting melodies, insightful lyrics, her quietly powerful vocals and the understated guitar virtuosity of her husband and musical partner, André Moran. With their new band, The Belle Sounds, she continues exploring deep emotions with a collection marked by her characteristic insight and compassion.

The bright folk/pop on The Belle Sounds balances electric and acoustic instruments to surround Hampton with lush arrangements that compliment her passionate vocals. Moran’s subtle, shimmering electric guitar arpeggios set the stage for “Island,” a dreamy celebration of love’s power to keep you safe, even when disaster is looming. Twinkling piano and Hampton’s sinuous, processed harmonies support the lilting melody of “Away Away,” a contrast to a vocal ripe with the mellow longing of a broken heart. Charlie Faye and Will Sexton add harmonies to “The Starry Eyed,” a ballad that salutes the dreamers and artists of the world. “Bourbon on Your Lips” is an uplifting pop tune with a serious message about the tension between love and anger in a relationship. Moran’s playful, chiming guitar and Hutchings’ propulsive drumming balance Hampton’s ardent vocal. (“Bourbon” will be featured on the soundtrack of Dark Skies, the Kerri Russell film directed by Scott Stewart.) The delicious tension between Hampton’s soulful, simmering vocals and the band’s uplifting arrangements makes The Belle Sounds is a perfect album for solitary late-night reveries, or playing at top volume on a long cross country drive, a collection that proudly wears its heart on its sleeve.

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