Haerts - Haerts (iTunes Bonus Tracks) (2014)

The debut full-length album from Brooklyn's Haerts showcases the group's ebullient, atmospheric pop. Centered around the creative talents of lead vocalist Nini Fabi, keyboardist Benjamin Gebert, guitarist Garrett Ienner, and bassist Derek McWilliams, Haerts also employ several other backing musicians on the album to help flesh out their layered synth and guitar sound. For her part, Fabi has a sweetly resonant voice that sometimes brings to mind the Cardigans' Nina Persson and sometimes leans more toward Stevie Nicks territory. As a band, Haerts have a similarly balanced aesthetic that flows easily between the artier end of '80s adult contemporary and the buoyant, blissed-out synth-pop. Cuts like "Wings” and "Giving Up” are emotionally uplifting, immediately hummable songs that wouldn’t be at all out of place in an ‘80s John Hughes film. Think something along the lines of the Cars' “Whose Gonna Drive You Home” meeting Lone Justice's “Shelter,” and you won’t be too far off from the sound Haerts achieves here; especially on cuts like the moody “Call My Name” and expansive “Lights Out.” In that sense, Haerts fit nicely alongside the work of such similarly inclined contemporaries as Canada's Young Galaxy, as well as their Brooklyn labelmates St. Lucia. Ultimately, it’s Haerts' combination of straightforward, rootsy melodicism and more experimental, ambient inclinations that helps them grab your ear and your heart.