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Jun 23, 2011 Web Exclusive By John Everhart

In an interview with Under the Radar last summer, Hooray for Earth frontman Noel Heroux described his band’s debut EP Momo in thematic terms as “people coming together and feeling togetherness and extreme anxiety at the same time.” This discordance and togetherness once again permeates his band’s music on their debut LP True Loves, but it’s more than just a continuation of themes explored on Momo. The songwriting’s more fleshed out, and the stylistic breadth is expanded considerably, with rich emotional hues explored throughout that Momo only hinted at.

“Realize It’s Not the Sun ” kicks off the album on a crepuscular, foreboding note, as Heroux intones, “In memory I feel your face/With a softness only you/We were dancing in the race,” recalling the childlike memory themes so ubiquitous on the Fever Ray album. It gives way to the astounding “Last Minute,” a gorgeous Left Banke via Broadcast pop anthem, all chiming harpsichord and dusty analog radiance.

The thudding tribal percussion that ushers in “True Loves” flowers glacially into a full-blown electro onslaught, replete with a buzz saw-synthesized bassline, recalling some of the darker moments on Tricky’s Pre-Millennium Tension.

“No Love” is galvanized by backing vocals courtesy of Zambri, with stabs of brass punctuating the braying, near funk workout. Their vocals bleed together effortlessly with Heroux’s, giving way to a cacophonous meltdown akin to the outro of Radiohead’s “Climbing Up the Walls.”

The record hits its apotheosis on the ebullient sax-driven “Bring Us Closer Together.” A riotous number, it mines ’80s pop in a manner not unlike recent Yeasayer and Belle & Sebastian circa Dear Catastrophe Waitress. But while those acts often equivocate, Hooray for Earth are content to lose themselves earnestly in the light-hearted rush of the music.

There certainly is a fair amount of teeth gnashing anxiety present throughout True Loves, but it’s an overarching feeling of togetherness that relentlessly persists, and ultimately prevails. True Loves is remarkably a quantum leap artistically over the band’s fine debut EP, and exhibits a surfeit of sonic possibilities, auguring that the best may still be yet to come for this superb band. (www.hoorayforearth.net)

Author rating: 8/10