San Francisco – HAERTS is a hard band to get an audience with.
There have been a few times over the past year that I thought I would see the indie pop group, but each time they slipped through the cracks. The first was a show in which they were scheduled to open for Au Revoir Simone at a show here in San Francisco, cancelling at the last minute to make way for another band. They were also slated to play Sacramento’s TBD Fest, yet for some reason their name disappeared as the early October festival grew closer. The only other time I had hoped to catch them was at this year’s Bonnaroo—the first one I missed since 2005 because of cost—a date they kept.
I fell in love with this band was while driving back from Houston to New Orleans on a particularly stormy and icy afternoon last November. I had gone to Texas to catch CHVRCHES at Houston’s massive House of Blues, and on my way back, their track “Wings” played at least three times during the long drive home. “Wings” is a punchy, almost indignant, pop song, and makes up the second track to both their self-titled album—released through Columbia Records this week—as well as 2013’s four-track Hemiplegia EP. Hearing such infectious melodies helped ease the anxiety I felt driving back through Texas and Louisiana on that particularly awful afternoon.
I purchased Hemiplegia when I returned home and was immediately hooked on the four tracks, showcasing varietal style and generous flow throughout. I longed for a full LP, and as it turns out, it’s taken almost a year later to be rewarded for my patience.
HAERTS’ self-titled debut is good, but at the same time, it expects a little too much of itself. Three of the four excellent tracks from the Hemiplegia EP are included on their eponymous debut, and in a somewhat erratic manner. One of the things I love about that EP is the structure and pace, as it arranges four dramatically different tracks in an eloquent, accessible manner. HAERTS’ debut album feels a bit rushed in terms of organization, yet as far as substance goes, it’s a pretty solid pop album.
The opening track, “Heart,” is a great intro, not only lending relevant lyrical content (‘There is a reason we search for the one’), but it also sets the tone and tempo for the rest of the LP. From here it drains into “Wings,” an incredible second track, followed by “Hemiplegia,” the opening track of the aforementioned EP that shares its title with this song. “Hemiplegia” feels like a more natural choice as an opening track than “Heart,” as its slow, calculated intro does a much better job of drawing the listener in. “Hemiplegia” feels weird so deep into the album—even at only three tracks in—as a song that is so dependent on crescendo seems out of place in the same company as poppier numbers like “No One Needs To Know” and single “Giving Up.”
The rest of the album flows nicely. Nini Fabi’s vocals are endearing and alluring, and are a perfect match for the relaxed yet indulgent musical stylings of her band mates Ben Gebert (keys), Garrett Ienner (guitar) and Derek McWilliams (bass). The album maintains a productive balance between softer tracks—like “Call My Name” and tender album closer “Hope”—and more energetic cuts—such as “Giving Up” and “Be The One”—which are what give the album a tangible element of fortuitous spirit. It’s definitely one of the more upbeat LPs I have heard this year, a welcome intrusion of celebratory, up-tempo pop to the illusory and even depressing music that has come about in the past several months. Even “All The Days”—a song about necessary, inevitable parting, and the penultimate track on the LP—seems jubilant in a way, even though lyrically it conjures a jungle of harrowed emotions. The production of this track is intense, intentional, and thrilling, and with lyrics like, ‘Lines are lost/In neon frost/On the sunset,” you really can’t go on.
Brooklyn’s HAERTS have produced a solid piece of work. It’s built on a foundation of honesty and humility, but will probably go down as one of the more underrated albums of the year, most likely ignored by a great deal of critics. I look forward to HAERTS’ future prospects, and when they are scheduled to return to San Francisco in December, I’ll hopefully get to see them.
Listen to the album on Spotify. HAERTS is currently opening for St. Lucia, and has a headlining tour this winter. For dates, click here.
Corey Bell
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