Heartland by Owen Pallett

Released: January 12, 2010
Genre: Alternative/Experimental/Orchestral
Label: Domino

Score: 8.7 / 10

The unique quirkiness of one Owen Pallett is an unintentional and irreverent quality that permeates from his music. Somewhere between a performance by the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra and an avant-garde mastertape, Pallett expresses a deeply emotive and sensuous series of sways upon his violin while spinning tales of broken homes and unrequited love in his whisper falsetto. This difference and sheer hyperbolic weirdness has maintained a steadfast image of Pallett: composer, homosexual, connoisseur and string-playing oddball.

Once called Final Fantasy, the newly-renamed Owen Pallett has delivered a fantastic first listen of 2010 in his third work, Heartland. Following up on the often-brilliant Has a Good Home and the critically-acclaimed He Poos Clouds, Heartland returns to a more obtusely formed composition. We see less of the intimate Pallett, with his vo-corder and harpsichord, and more of Pallett the composer at the absolute heights of his craft. For Pallett, who has always seemed shy standing next to a microphone, this is his confident moment in the sun.

Also notable on this work is a specific trend towards more electronica. The extension beyond intimate sessions has spread into more synthesized sounds, as well as a brilliant increase in horn and wind arrangements that complement Pallett's strings perfectly. Songs like "Midnight Directives" and "Lewis Takes His Shirt Off" are nothing without the complementary instrumentation to take them to higher places. Pallett also delves into the more experimental side of his works with the frighteningly beautiful "The Great Elsewhere" and heavy introductory piece "Mount Alpentine". However, it is in tracks such as "Red Sun No. 5" and "What Do You Think Will Happen Now?", where we can still see that folky, introspective facet of Pallett's work, that he truly stands out on this album.

This album can only be described, as I have always described Pallett, as the soundtrack to an elaborate one-act play. The stage is set, the cues are memorized. All that is left is the brilliant overture of a single person performing admirably on a stage of his own. Pallett brings this resounding thunder to Heartland in a wider variety of ways that I've seen yet. The brilliance of He Poos Clouds was how humble it was as a whole. This work, by brilliant contrast, is anything but.

Sound: 10
Quality: 8
Lyrics: 8
Impression: 9
Production: 9
Tilt: 8.4