The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid emerged last year as a kind of distorted pop mirage. A mirage projected by Seth Graham and Mari Maurice aka More Eaze. The former is co-founder of Orange Milk, the wonder label that in 2020 edited Luís Pestana’s debut album, among many others. The latter has stood out for her collaborations with Claire Rousay or Dntel in an increasingly peculiar, even unique lexicon. Both share a fragmented vision that confronts reality, neurosis, dream, or isolation. Where does one end and the other begin? Not being a starting question to an ad hoc exploration, it is one of the many questions their music might eventually raise. The disintegrated form and delicate essence of these micro-compositions seem to gain balance in digital landscapes that fade into a maze of silences and melodies.

Perhaps the most noticeable element in this narrative is the use of auto-tune in More Eaze’s voice. A controversial sound effect, but one that here takes on new horizons and unconventional incarnations. In a half unimaginable way, there is a gravitational force that orchestrates the resonances of the strings and keyboards with the stellar vocal track. It reminds us, at times, of the lessons of Oneohtrix Point Never revised early in the morning – and with the first rays of the sun already peeping through. It is on the threshold of the nature of things that More Eaze and Seth Graham find the comfort and fluidity to defy the laws of supposition and logic; or simply row against expectation. This is the only way silent revolutions happen. NA

A veteran of the Danish underground scene, Holger Hartvig is synonymous with music at its most hybrid. Composer, producer, and vocalist, he has left his mark on projects such as Synd og Skam and Boli Group. The latter edited on the local label Posh Isolation which has brought out brilliant names such as Puce Mary, Croatian Amor or Vanessa Amara. The solo moniker Spellcaster is a step forward. Shrewd and daring, it turns the concept of song inside out, presenting unprecedented forms and sensations. The unpredictability of its sound structure drinks from as many sources as possible; it does so with a natural sense as if it were a performance art on stage. Vanguardist, yes, but also profoundly classical.

Owner of a voice capable of exploring different approaches, he uses it as a means and not as an end. He wraps the mantle of sounds over confessional lyrics, of complex and equally mundane dimension. Celebrate, at the outset, the happiness of not falling into hermetic labyrinths, despite the visionary eye of the proposals. Inventory sowed the seeds as a debut album, for what was to come. In the middle of 2022, Hartvig returns with memo. An impressive and even revolutionary album in its own way. A secret passage to other worlds. Incredible new worlds. NA