Singles

Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring - A Question Of Trust

Bill Cummings 03/08/2007

Rating: 4/5

London's indie-six piece Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring, return with another delightful slice of melodic pop. Their debut album, 'These are our songs…' was a master class in wondrously lovelorn psychedelic pop of the kind that doesn't exist in the charts anymore. If the NME are currently championing the rather dubious talents of Kate Nash under the banner of “indie pop”, then they could do worse than listening to the “real thing”, embodied by a band likes of THWFOS.

New single “A Question of Trust” even takes things up a philosophical notch or two as well. All the elements that make the THWFOS sound so effortless are still present and correct: the pristine strum of Sparklehorse, the twinkling Ooberman type rhythm section and Markus' ethereal sighing vocals that bring to mind the bittersweet delivery of Morrissey and Ray Orbison: Now they're joined by a withering kiss off in the direction people who tell lies/the people who lead us. This is a very brave thing to do given the clumsiness with which politics is often broached within the world of music, but here it is executed with clarity.

One gets the feeling that these lyrics are the work of a sensitive heart. When Markus sings “There's cracks in their armour”, initially you'd think that he could be referring to his own heartbreak, but the next lines leave you in no doubt “I tell you kingdoms will crumble/ empires will fall.” Then he effortlessly croons, “We've heard it all too many times/ we don't believe any more of your lies.” backed by wonderful female backing, made all the more poignant given the recent departure of Tony Blair who lest we forget, took us into the Iraq war based on a dossier of lies. The outro turns into an insatiable call to arms that envelopes your body. The rhythm positively throbs with surging drums, bass, and vocals - the single's aim is made clear “We Came here to remind you…Open your eyes and listen/You can't trust politicians.” 'A Question of Trust' proves that THWFOS now posses an Iron fist in a velvet pop glove.


B-side 'Out of Sight, Out Of Mind' is beautiful. Tinkling pianos and plucked out strings lead the way for Markus to deliver a vocal that bristles with the aching loss of Rufus Wainwright's, best work. Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring then; a band you can trust to deliver heart-warming melodies with meaning, in a world of disposability, consumerism and war. Which is not something you'll hear on the radio, everyday is it?


Catch their Hearts Were Full Of Spring live at Gspot 3 The BBQ@The Brixton Windmill on the 8th of September.