Album Review #6

Owen Pallett - Heartland
genre: indie/experimental
released: Jan. 12, 2010
label: Domino Records

Owen Pallett is a Canadian artist who has been around for years, writing songs under the moniker Final Fantasy and contributing string arrangements to bands such as Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, and Fucked Up. His compositions on the 2006 Final Fantasy album He Poos Clouds won him the inaugural Polaris Music Prize, which is now given annually to the best full-length Canadian album based solely on artistic merit. After hearing this accolade, I figured I need to check this guy out for myself. So I decided to jump right into the new album head first.

Pallett, dropping the Final Fantasy name as to end confusion with the popular video game franchise, really knows how to stretch the listener's imagination. He Poos Clouds is an album simply about the schools of magic from the game Dungeons & Dragons. Pallett goes one step further on Heartland. Taken from Pitchfork.com, the album is about an "ultra-violent farmer" named Lewis, who lives on a planet called Spectrum. Lewis is trying to come to grips with his creator, who is Owen Pallett. Strange, right?

After reading that, I became a little intimidated, which is exactly how the album starts out with it's heavy string arrangements. The album really has two parts for me when I think about it. The first four tracks have a very brooding, ominous feel to them, especially the first two tracks. They end abruptly with the collision of strings and drum loops that are very, well, intimidating. Everything takes a turn for the better though with the album's single "Lewis Takes Action". I'm really glad this farmer fellow decides to do something, because the album flips into a much lighter and happier experience. This song is simply beautiful, with the powerful violins leading the way with Pallett's harmonic voice. The drums provide the perfect backing along with the rest of the instruments provided on this track.

The next two tracks, "The Great Elsewhere" and "Oh Heartland, Up Yours!", are written in the same vein as the previous one, using the violin, drums, and looping them throughout the song, while Pallett entrances the listener with his voice. And to think that the live version of this is done completely by Pallett himself is amazing. By plugging his violin into a loop pedal, he is able to do everything you hear on the album. Pallett's talents shine on through the rest of the album right up until the very end.

I can see why many people wouldn't want to listen to this, or "couldn't get into it" at all. But I'm truly glad that I can appreciate this entire ensemble Pallett has given us with Heartland. He has created something beautiful and I believe that anyone who listens to it and gives it a chance will walk away liking it. The vocals and the strings are clearly the highlights, but the incorporation of so many other instruments truly puts a cap on another fine job for Owen Pallett. Once you can get past the intimidating first couple tracks, the rest of the album is a great listen and has me anxious to explore into his older albums. Only after I listen to Heartland a few more times though (which is up on his myspace for the time being, link below).


Favorite tracks: Lewis Takes Action, Oh Heartland, Up Yours!, E Is for Estranged

For fans of: Arcade Fire, Antony and the Johnsons, Grizzly Bear

Owen Pallett's myspace