Heart 2 Heart — Shared Bodies
The debut mini-album "Shared Bodies" was released on Forever Escaping Boredom as 7 " transparent vinyl record .The release is still available for order.
It’s worth mentioning the album's excellent cover, as it's a absolutely professional big of design work. It features a gray background with a zigzag pattern, created from the grain of white dots, as if done by spray paints. In the foreground is a large red stylized inscription of the words 'Heart 2 Heart' made in a grunge textured style.
The release is vinyl record, as I mentioned before- this features transparent vinyl with two red labels that show concentric circles, the name of the project, the label logo and the letters A and B, indicating the sides of the record.
The theme of the project is dedicated to the cult TV series Twin Peaks, and specifically this album - to two characters of this series - to Bob and Leland. Leland Palmer is the inconsolable father of Laura Palmer, who was brilliantly played by Ray Wise. Bob is a disembodied evil living in the Black Wigwam and settling in the bodies of living beings, including Leland Palmer. Perhaps the connection between these two characters is the theme for the album.
It's hard to say why the Twin Peaks theme was chosen for the project. Perhaps this is just a tribute of respect, or that some sounds from the series was used as a source of sound. I specially watched a short video of Heart 2 Heart performance, and drew attention to their set-up. It is very minimalistic - Distortion, Delay, mixer and cassette player (which is why I assume that the sounds from the TV series are used as a source).
The album consists of two rather short for Static noise compositions - about 5.30 minutes each. The first composition is titled "Bob" and represents a rather blurry abrasive noise, almost completely devoid of low frequencies. Here dominate frequencies are mids & highs , which bursting in the form of metallic whistle and rattle. The feeling of firm texture is practically absent- with the sound having a almost smooth feel, though chaos is certainly felt.
The second track is "Leland", and this features some brilliant texture. Again - low frequencies are not given much attention, but they are clearly tapped. The middle and high frequencies interact very harmoniously with each other, presenting a fairly sharp texture, similar to the grinding of metal, sometimes turning into a metallic squeal. It sounded like a handful of nails been thrown into the meat grinder.
Frankly - when I started listening to the first track, I did not like it. But Static noise is a rather complicated genre. Usually, the compositions in this style are much longer than five minutes. Sometimes the listener needs time to understand all the nuances of the sound, so I listened to the first track again. And again. In general, I've listened to this album a whole lot of times and I have to say - this is the case when the album needs to be perceived as a whole thing. This sound contrast of the tracks seemed to me a very good move. It should also be noted that on this album you will not hear a stereo sound, it is rather a single-channel sound. But it gives a certain charm.
As for comparisons with other projects in this genre, the sound of Heart 2 Heart is closer to the main projects of Sisto Rossi, and I also thought that there is a strong influence of Richard Ramirez' projects too.
In the end, we have a solid release, with a rather intricate sound and theme. I hope to hear more from this family project! And remember - The owls are not what they seem ...