Heartour – R U IN
Vibrantly fashioned whether found in a strutting song like “Brain” or something a bit more cerebral ala “The Persuadable One,” the beats that Heartour offers listeners in the new album R U IN are undisputedly integral to every one of its tracklist’s high points.
Jason Young, the driving force behind Heartour, seemingly goes out of his way to utilize grooves in ways that few of his peers would think to in R U IN, capitalizing on both postmodern trends and classical themes in synth rock simultaneously. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is the most experimental record you’ll hear on the left side of the dial this spring, it’s certainly one of the more sonically stimulating – and wholly indie – I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing lately.
This master mix is almost always centered on the relationship between the vocal and the percussion, with the songs “Baby Spiders,” “Eye on the Ball,” “Dear Future” and the exquisite “Dream to Come” exemplifying Young’s primary aesthetical formula here.
There’s so much depth to the drum parts in all of the aforementioned tracks, and to some extent, I think they colorize the emotion in the verses better than any of the melodic components in the music do. The contrast in texture and tonality definitely lends some additional layers to the greater narrative behind R U IN, which is something that immediately distinguishes its content from that of mainstream artists following a similar path as Young’s Heartour is.
“As Far As We Go,” the ultra-surreal “Bubbling” and “Let the Robots Drive” exhibit some exceptional poetry, and overall, I think that all of the lyricism on this album has a very authentic feel from beginning to end. You can tell that Young wasn’t overthinking any of his verses in songs like “Brain” and the clubby “Refill the Fountain;” if anything, I get the impression that both of these tracks were constructed out of improvised streams rather than concerted attempts at catchiness.
Heartour has never received the credit it deserves for the linguistic magic found in records bearing the moniker, but following the potential success of this upcoming May release, I believe this could easily change. Young is bringing his A-game to the studio here, and that’s undebatable.
If critics weren’t certain about Heartour prior to now, I think they’re going to know that this Jason Young-fronted project is here to stay once they get a glimpse of R U IN. There are a lot of groove-laden pop albums worth getting excited about this season, but among those that are being produced by purely independent talent, this is certainly one of the more thought-provoking that I’ve come across in recent memory.
Young has a lot of skills to bring to the table, but rather than trying to force all of them into one smorgasbord of sonically-savvy material here, he picks one or two strong points for each song – subsequently delivering a smashing release from top to bottom. Where he goes next should be interesting to say the least.
If you enjoyed a preview from R U IN, check out the official website for Heartour by clicking here. Give him a like on Facebook by clicking here & a follow on Twitter by clicking here.
