Was it trademark infringement that drove Owen Pallett to drop his Final Fantasy moniker? Or perhaps a worry that zealous PlayStation gamers might start showing up at his gigs demanding “One-Winged Angel”? His new label, Domino, would have us believe the former, but the Toronto violinist-singer’s writing has matured beyond video-game nostalgia with his latest and choicest to date, Heartland.
From the opening atmospheric incantations of “Midnight Directives,” it’s clear the 30-year-old has moved beyond the string-quartet-and-voice arrangements (and terrible title) of his preceding LP, He Poos Clouds, with the addition of brass samples and scuttling synth loops. The overwhelming sonic diversity here is apparent in the transition to the string pizzicato/egg-shaker shuffle of track two, “Keep the Dog Quiet,” in which the Jets of West Side Story are nearly visible, snapping their fingers in assent.
Some debt of creative gratitude is due to Björk, most conspicuously on the album’s strongest cut, “The Great Elsewhere.” The Icelander’s “Hyperballad” can be found in the pattering drum patches and vocal lilt, not to mention the positively Terry Riley–esque inverted synth riff by guest artist Nico Muhly.
Disorienting lyrics differentiate Pallett from his influences, though. Words are loosely held together with the thread of an antiquated agrarian narrative and sacred overtones: “I’ve seen his work upon the panes of cathedrals / In the sweat of the workers and the flight of the seagulls.”
Ultimately, Heartland’s accomplishment lies in its elaborate variety.
- Doyle Armbrust
published in Time Out Chicago on January 13th, 2010