THE INTERCHANGEABLE HEARTS
Lost
(Zeitgeist)
By Todd Lavoie
Losing oneself isn’t necessarily something to shy away from; in the case of the debut EP from San Francisco trio Interchangeable Hearts, such an outcome should probably be welcomed. Fronted by the coolly unhurried vocals of Lina Hancock, the three-piece arrives well-versed in matching stark atmospherics with melancholic ruminations on matters of love, at times recalling Midnight Movies at their most minimal or Sub Pop-era Saint Etienne at their most somber.
“Now That I’m Gone” is a captivating opening statement, starting off with a ghostly slink of haunted-house organ and sumptuously detached vocals before spinning itself into hi-hat- and bubble-bass-driven disco release, with Hancock achieving a curious blend of resignation and euphoria in her dancefloor declaration, “All the stars in the sky and the light in my eyes/it makes me fall apart.” Fluid bass lines and weightless organ whirrs also largely inform the engrossingly floatable handclap-funk of “March,” and the elegant balladry of “Be Mine” glides along with a tearful melody and stately piano worthy of Burt Bacharach – think Ivy without the French-accented vocals.
“Maze” offers the Interchangeable Hearts at their most spooked-out, thanks to the billowing puffs of organ which keep the song hovering somewhere in the ether. Top marks, however, go to “On My Knees,” a coy tempo-shifter buoyed by Hancock’s taunting chorus of “look me in the eyes and make me remember you.”