Harry Heart’s intense, raspy, colorful voice captures my attention from the opening lines of Couples, the first track on his new four-song EP, Poor Ballet. ‘Can you do this thing for me? / Can you lie diagonally?’ How can you not want to hear more?
Heart says this EP ‘came together very spontaneously’ and that he wasn’t trying to ‘over-think, or over-produce it. And, it shows in all the pleasurable ways: Heart has enlivened his new set of tracks with a pervading freshness; his alt chill pop is contagious, upbeat, and hypnotic.
The gentle bell-ringing twinkle and jangle of the almost continual guitar in Couples lets the bass and drums gently steer the song to shore while the guitar makes you feel like you’re being guided by a lighthouse’s ever-closer light; you’ll be safe in the end. Some great turns of phrase, including this gem: ‘I need peace, I need peace, I need peace / I cannot be Hercules’
Heart’s voice takes more of a menacing tone on Instant Replay, but the bit-crushed tone of the guitar lightens the mood, or minimally lets us know we should take this sort-of-love story with a grain of salt. As the story goes, it sounds like his protagonist has fallen head over heels in infatuation for a French mademoiselle in Calais, who seems to already be in a relationship. It wasn’t going to work out, but they had a fling, and our shunned lover needs some validation ‘I’m begging for the waterworks’. However, being thick-skinned or simply a hopeful romantic, he accepts his feelings even if unrequited, ‘It’s alright, it’s ok, she can have my love anyway’. This is the standout track of the EP. I could drive to this all day.
Programmed wood blocks and ethereal piano change the mood completely on Sonofa. Here’s a song where Heart’s aim not to over-produce really pays off. I can imagine this song being the kind you layer track after track and create a monster of a song. But, in this case, Heart’s willingness to hold back leaves an open, heartfelt, landscape-atmospheric track, think along the lines of Radiohead’s Videotape. The minimalism leaves room for the female backing vocals and male voiceover to take center stage.
Grey closes out the EP with energy and back to some of the guitars I came to expect after the first two tracks; the ascending riff is a legit earworm. Just when I’m ready to hear more, this two and a half minute number comes to an abrupt end, but as I head out the door I find myself unable to stop singing ‘Grey, some say, my heart wasn’t built that way.’
Written by Greg Gobel
