My relationship with singer James Mercer has been an off/on again one. I sat way at the back and talked with mates through The Shins set at the Austin City Limits Festival in 2006. I really liked Wincing the Night Away, missed the first Broken Bells album, wasn’t too fussed about the second, and never got around to checking out Port of Morrow. However, I did jump on Heartworms a few months ago, ignoring the horrendous cover artwork but really enjoying this press shot. In general it was a good decision, with a few reservations.
Self-produced by Mercer, the album jumps from style to style and often comes as a cross between the amped up pop of Weezer with the nostalgic lyrics of the recent Magnetic Fields album. The charming folk of “Mildenhall” looks back at discovering new music while living in the UK as a teenager. “Rubber Ballz” and “Fantasy Island” have similar nostalgic stories but of love at a young age.
Lead track “Name For You” has the most memorable hooks but is followed up with the darker “Painting a Hole” and therein lies the biggest knock on Heartworms. The multiple styles can be jarring at times and the lyrics are not always as deep as the ocean. A few of the tracks will surely end up as regulars in concert and appear on a greatest hits compilation someday, like the quite beautiful “So Now What”, while a handful of others really never need to be heard again.
7/10
Seventeen years ago, I was living in the UK and every week I’d head down to the trendy record store that was a few blocks away from London’s Angel tube station. While the vestiges of time have made me forget the name of the shop, I loved it there. Small but well curated; half of the store was devoted to records, the other half to CDs and every time I was there I stared at the album Nixon by Lambchop that was always on sale 2 for £20. I never bought even though the press was raving about it and only picked it up second hand in the last few years… but have yet to actually listen to it.
When The XX arrived on the scene in 2009 with their self titled debut album; their distinct, minimal, moody guitar sound gained the band wide spread acclaim. Second album Coexist brought more of the same and was equally well received. Following Jamie XX’s excellent solo album, the band is back with their first new album in nearly five years.
On Sunday, June 19th, Angel Olsen played to a few hundred people at the Park Theatre in Winnipeg. A few miles away thousands were seeing Garth Brooks play his last of four shows at the much bigger MTS Centre. That night, the crowd at the Park was quiet. A little hungover, sunburned and tired from a warm weekend spent at the beach or lake with Monday morning was not too far away. Even still, it was a memorable night with Olsen’s voice being the main attraction. Just a few months later in September, she released her third studio album, My Woman.
The Light Appears 
