Album review: The HeARTist - Galvo
The path of an artist is not always clear-cut. From the flats of Ballymun to the Seven Kingdoms, from Pakistani hip-hop to indie-folk, the journey of North Dublin-based artist, Galvo, has been an unorthodox odyssey of self-discovery. His debut solo album The HeARTist may send you fumbling in the throes of a welcome hyperesthesia, but when the final bells of a ‘‘The Sun has Lost a Son’’ chime out, you’ll be left with a sense of awe and wonder.
Heralded by Hotpress as ‘‘one of the most accomplished and exciting debuts that has passed through HP Towers this year’’ Sep 26th marks a renaissance of raw indie magic.
The line ‘‘I know I’m a little intense, but I just want to live true’’ from the track ‘‘Maybe’’ is a confession which encompasses the entire album and Galvo himself — they are one in the same, you will soon discover. This is an artist who’s been around the block but has somehow remained off the grid, honing his skills in wait. From his alt-rock project September Sun to the dreamy soundscapes of A Dark Horse, The HeARTist is the evolved species of both.
Enlisting A Dark Horse collaborators Hugh Rodgers and Niall Woods perpetuates the ethereal indie-folk sound which propelled the former to critical acclaim but, make no mistake, this record is Galvo-centric — his very own sonic memoir. Recorded close to home in Porchlight Studios and mastered by Grammy award-winning audio engineer, Dave Collins (who worked with The Police, Weezer, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden), prepare to free-up some space in your autumn playlist for your next cathartic indie fix and give Sufjan Stevens discography a rest.
The title track ‘‘The Weight’’ is cinematic in scale, tantalising the senses with rhythmic fingerpicking before an ambush of percussion and reverberating grand piano. The violins and cello add flares of drama, culminating in a masterful track about reclaiming your identity from under the weight of circumstance. This is not just a song — it’s a composition, as Rodger’s film score prowess comes to the fore. Galvo’s feathery tenor is a marriage of tones likening to Billy Corgan and Ben Cooper but with a distinct unvarnished finish unbridled with radio-ready fixtures.
When asked about this low-fi approach, Galvo recalled ‘’there were a lot of opportunities on this album to auto-tune and play everything perfectly, sometimes the piano went out of tune, sometimes my voice cracked, but we didn’t do it again because that was what that moment was’’. The track almost mirrors the ebb and flow of the storm against which it is set, as Galvo recalls rescuing his dogs from storm Ophelia. It’s an opening which demands to be heard on the best speakers in your arsenal, and it propels the trajectory of the rest of the album.
This record is a meditation on the binds which tie us to the past, a hold which can transcend time and space. ‘‘Leave the Light On’’ is a reflection on Galvo’s defining relationship, written in two epochs, some eight-years apart from different perspectives. The song fades out with the wistful repetition of ‘‘it was you’’ and the pain reverberates across both time periods, albeit transformed. As we wade further into the record, the tale of ill-fated love unravels in ‘‘She’s So Cold’’ and ‘‘The Hammer’’. It’s an age-old theme but one that never fails to resonate.
The featured track ‘‘Getting Better’’ could be interpreted as a sequel to the ‘‘The Weight’’ as Galvo learns to accept and overcome the past in a quest for balance. The lyrics are poignant and repetitive, rousing a chant with the hand-clapping motif. This is paired with an astute music video warning of the perils of extremes in an Alice & Wonderland-esque conundrum. Galvo appears with tiny hands as he struggles with everyday tasks and is ridiculed for his deformity. In his desperation, he meets a shaman who slyly presents two magic pills. Galvo chooses and his hands are transformed into monstrous claws, infusing Galvo with unhinged power. In the end, kneeling at the altar of his childhood football god, Maradona, Galvo finds solace in ‘‘trying to get better’’ rather than being better, and the curse is lifted — self-acceptance being the universal antidote.
Other notable tracks include ‘‘Take Take’’ which began as a simple piano piece about someone baring their soul to the world. In Rick Rubin-esque fashion, Galvo has an instinctive approach to songwriting and understanding that you can’t always keep a song on a leash, it can transform if you let it. ‘‘You must serve the song,’’ Galvo cautions when asked about his songwriting process.
Accompanying the record is an animated short film that sequences the tracks into a single audiovisual suite. The synergism between the record and animation is palpable as they weave into each other in perfect harmony. Whether Galvo intended the record to be a consecutive sequence, or a series of one-shots becomes irrelevant as an organic narrative unwinds itself.
This is not just another hopeful debut; this is Galvo laying a royal flush on the table, announcing himself as the next big name to come out of the Irish indie-folk scene. It’s a record etched with unwavering resolve and the artistry is there to back it up. Watch this space.
The HeARTist is released and available on all streaming platforms on September 26th.