Heatwarmer, a relatively unknown group of five based out of Seattle, Wash., released their self-titled debut album earlier this month on Bandcamp, where it’s available to stream and purchase. With such a wide variety of sounds and lyrics on one album, it’s difficult to describe Heatwarmer in its entirety, but the group successfully presents a fantastical record refreshingly different from the status quo.
Although the standard bass, guitar and keyboard make constant appearances, symbols, trombone and oboe among other instruments also pop up sporadically. The sheer variety in the musical composition of each song is impressive and with so many different instruments at work, listeners of all types can find something they like here.
The album sounds almost like a rock opera, or the soundtrack to a strange, cosmic sitcom. A groovy bassline infiltrates the majority of the tracks, lending a consistent sound to the album, but variations keep each song interesting enough to stand out. Many individual tracks have clear influences, like the snake charmer feel of “Good Stuff,” or circus tent vibes on “Magic Hearts.” Others such as “The Dybbuks” and “Riddles” take a more stripped down, acoustic approach.
The band’s lyrics can get a bit silly at times but perhaps one of the messages of the album is music doesn’t need to be serious to be enjoyable. “Good Stuff” and “Keep Shining Through” are two of the album’s most feel-good tunes and display the band’s catchy and simple writing style.
It can be difficult to track down a truly well-rounded record. There always seems to be at least one song that’s a bit boring, but on Heatwarmer each track is oddly captivating. Despite being unfamiliar with this type of music, I found Heatwarmer to be a worthwhile venture in stepping a little farther outside of the mainstream to explore something new.
Rating: B+
