Search - Owen Pallett :: Heartland

Absolutely Pallett-able

Leah Thomas | Michigan | 01/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, in jaded indie-kid fashion, I began the review with a bad pun.

But there's nothing bad about this album. To my mind, there's nothing short of brilliant here.

I hate the stigma attached to the phrase "concept album." Basically, an album is music and not a concept. If the music has a plot, so be it - but that doesn't influence the quality of the songs. Here, regardless of the subject matter, are songs performed with strings and electronics and soothing vocals. Here is a Bach-worthy orchestra meeting up with a Macbook in a barn. Here is something unique.

Each time I listen to "Heartland," I feel like I hear something I didn't hear the last time. It's one of those albums that you listen to initially and think, "Hey. This is pretty damn good." After multiple listens, your opinion changes to "Hey! This is freakin' GENIUS."



The plot unfolds across the expanse of the album as we learn about Lewis, an ultra-violent farmer railing against Owen, his creator. The narrative is lyrical and intriguing, but if you decide you don't feel like sharing your listening experience with a fictional farmer, well - the beauty of these songs is their transparency. They can be applied to anyone and anything and still be inspiring and gorgeous. "I'm never gonna give it to you." Simple words made stellar, here.



Highlights? Aside from the whole album, which is wonderfully arranged and has nary a skippable track, I'd say "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt," "Tryst with Mephistopheles," and "Red Sun No. 5" are impossible to stop listening to.



You know what? Forget my scattered review. Listen to this album and build your own opinion. My words do it no justice."

The Former Final Fantasy steps his game up.

Erodetus Sum | michigan | 01/25/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Owen Pallett traded up from his usual string quartet to a full orchestra for his debut under his own name, and his songs have risen to the occasion. The lyrics concern an alternate universe called Spectrum inhabited by a farmer named Lewis that Spectrum's God (who just so happens to be named Owen) is in love with. Following the storyline can be difficult when you're swooning to the cornucopia of gorgeous melodies that Pallett crams into every track. I don't mean to suggest that Heartland is cluttered; it's wonderfully spacious but still dense with texture, melody and feeling."