True Loves - Hooray for Earth Album Review

Hooray for Earth

Photo: Drew Innis link

Album Review

Memphis Industries must be wondering what they have to do to get a hit album or single for their fabulous roster. Look at them all - Dutch Uncles, Go!Team, Elephant, Milagres and The Phoenix Foundation have all unleashed quality music over the past year or so, although to be fair, Field Music have been their biggest hopes (again).

And so the mantle is passed to another epic-sounding outfit - Hooray For Earth from Manhattan. "True Loves" is the debut album from primary lynchpin, Noel Heroux, who clearly has a love for the bold colours of synth-rock and '90s urban-pop, plus a band of merry and helpful musicians to help him live out the dream. They've quite possibly succeeded - sitting somewhere not a million miles from the ball-parks frequented by Prince, Twin-Shadow, OMD, Outkast, Hot Chip and even label-mates Milagres. Grand keyboard-riffs ringfence sweetly-harmonised vocals and brittle drums, all topped off with an out-and-out pop-sensibility. Basically, the whole album is jammed with potential radio-pleasing hits, bar a few songs. "Sail" is an obvious choice, all strident and bursting with confidence, while "Last Minute" and the first single "True Loves" aren't too far behind.

In fact, even though there are plenty of different and contrasting references throughout this first attempt, including the outrageous Pet Shop Boys-esque bounce to "Same", the album as a whole, gels perfectly fine, although the last few tracks tend to veer towards magnolia rather than rainbows. "True Loves" is a sum of many parts, most of which work together, a sort of rough with the smooth and totally worthy of your attention, at least until Heroux and pals disappear into the ether, either as a success or another unemployable statistic. A triumph.

Paul Pledger