"HTRK have been making their gloomy, sensual brand of music, at the intersection of electronic pop and noise rock, for 22 years. To mark the milestone comes String of Hearts, a collection of covers and remixes featuring an all-star cast of friends and collaborators, from next-gen underground favourites like Coby Sey to fellow old-school experimentalists Liars. This brilliant, genre-agnostic record allows you to trace the breadth of the Melbourne band's shapeshifting sound, echoes of which can now be found all over underground and commercial music,"
"The record spans HTRK's early hits right up to their most recent album Rhinestones, a period in which they've shifted from a darker, industrial palette to warmer territory. Not that you'd be able to tell here: instrumentals are reshaped by Loraine James's IDM-style glitches and Zebrablood's atmospheric breaks, while Jonnine Standish's disaffected vocals are transformed into desperate alien wails by Liars."
"Some tracks are warped beyond recognition, using just a synth or lyric as a jumping-off point. The gruff, brooding Ha is reinvented by sound artist Perila into an ambient composition so sweeping and gorgeous it veers towards the sublime the only perceptible similarity lingers in the layered rendition of those once-sneering vocals. Siren Song, originally a 49-second interlude, is stretched out by Kali Malone and Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley into a droning six-minute soundscape, where the simple, mumbled lyric is repeated like an absent-minded mantra."
String of Hearts collects covers and remixes of HTRK's work across 22 years, featuring collaborators from Coby Sey to Liars. The record traces HTRK's shapeshifting sound, from darker, industrial textures to warmer tones, while producers rework instrumentals with IDM glitches, atmospheric breaks and ambient treatments. Vocals are transformed—disaffected delivery becomes alien wails—while some tracks are stretched or warped into new soundscapes. Standout reinterpretations include Perila's ambient reinvention of 'Ha', Kali Malone and Stephen O'Malley's droning expansion of 'Siren Song', Sharon Van Etten's energized cover of 'Poison', and Double Virgo's percussive take on 'Rentboy'.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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