"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable." Whilst in this particular case the robot in question was the Wizard of Oz's Tin Man, such melancholy is most appropriate when discussing this Brighton-based four-piece. With frontman Tom Marsh's visualisation of "robot hearts, a kind of motor-powered generator [carrying] me through", the band thus takes on the form of a mechanic support system. It's not unusual for solace or therapy to be sought (and indeed found) in music, but rarely is it this beguiling.
From the narcotically towering "Static" to the soaring farewell of "Silence", gentle harmonies bathe THE ROBOT HEART'S glittering pop. Songs hang in the air, each note shaped as if cut from glass. Others, such as the hypnotic "Remaining Stones", thrum darkly, like a spectral choir summoning a thunderstorm. Lyrics come in snatches, each track a vehicle for Marsh's haunted memories and ravaged psyche. Dark dreams and darker realities haunt the album: "Singing To The Ghost", the quietly insistent opener opens out into a lustrous climax of meshed melodies and fading desire, before leaving the listener with the unambiguously plaintive "hold me close/one last time".
Likewise "Lost In Stereo", The Robot Heart's recent single, which exudes a graceful presence on the album, radiating both a disquieting persistence and an alluring elegance. Musically demonstrative of the album as a whole, Astra Forward's delightfully delicate keys and bracing glockenspiel flirt with Marsh's tenderly plucked guitar, each strain emerging and dissolving like spiralling trails of light.
Yet even with the occasional electronic flourish, such as on the ominously jarring emergency room pop ("This is the end of this/now I can't wake up/it's a dream"), it's still the vocals that take centre-stage; intricately woven harmonies and seductive interplay offset perfectly the wracked and feverish content of Marsh's mind. Troubled yet serene, "The Robot Heart" is cloudless music for your bleaker moments, a mournful, deeply heartfelt journey through one man's torment. Let us hope it brings him as much peace as it does us pleasure.
Essential tracks: "Singing To The Ghost", "Silence", "Lost In Stereo."
