Aereogramme My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go by: Justin Pearsall Mon:23-Apr-07 Label: Chemikal Underground Year: 2007 WB rating 47 out of 100

Everything is seemingly as it should be. All the elements are here. There’s a voice that is emotive, instrumentation that plays with dynamics in a fashion not too dissimilar to some of the swells and troughs of Sigur Ros’ Takk, and a few moments that swim in your head like an all-too-effective television jingle. Despite all of this, My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go isn’t a compulsive listen. In fact, it is barely passable.

Sentiment is one of the major letdowns of the album. Craig B, the band’s vocalist, has a voice that can, in its better moments, evoke the tone and flexibility of Joey Burns from Calexico. When this occurs, such as in ‘Living Backwards’, Craig B hits the emotional peak that the swirling walls of strings and guitar are suggestive of; the band’s driving rhythm section pushing the song away from the contrived sound that dominates My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go.

In the slightly experimental structure and bluesy riffs on ‘Living Backwards’ you get a hint of what Aereogramme could be, here they are willing to let their hair down and the record sounds better for it. If only this occurred more often and they were unafraid to lose the grossly extravagant arrangements that strangle any real sense of emotion from the record. Apart from the rare occasions where Craig B meets the music head on – like ‘The Running Man’s Ben Gibbard-ish chorus – the vocals sound too needy, as if the Aereogramme front man is a child at the supermarket unable to dump the latest impulse buy into the trolley.

It’s not entirely the vocals’ fault though. The music is equally as guilty of this confusion of sentiment. ‘Exits’, with its built for adult-contemporary acoustic guitar fingerpicking and Deltra Goodrem-esque piano arpeggios, is a tired, base composition only worsened by lagging lyrics: “And we’ve all got exits/We keep on running too/So, grab yourself a bottle/It’s yours as much as mine”. The quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic is employed to deplorable affect on ‘Finding A Light’. Building from mere mutterings and pointless bleeps, to an accented pre-chorus where the song erupts in a fist-through-the-computer-screen inducing chorus of: “Because every moment/Every second should be precious, understand”.

All of the above is not good. However, My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go’s major flaw is the continual ‘more’ approach, as the production, the mood and song length are all taken to stupidly epic proportions. A hint of a natural sound, rather than the heavily reverberated, everything crystal clear and black-and-white approach, could have done wonders for the album, as the band’s songwriting (forgetting lyricism) is suggestive of a something far better than what has been produced here. As for song length, there is only one track that is under four minutes, ‘Finding A Light’, and even it is drawn out; only consisting of two distinct sections.

As you can probably tell by now, much of this album is a grating, head-shaking and frustrating affair. But the only reason it evokes this reaction in the listener is because there is a certain something at the heart of this music that is worthy of attention (and a few positive comments). The best example of this ‘x-factor’ is the second track, ‘Barriers’. The song opens with a restrained, and less derivative, piano introduction that is lifted by its waltz feel and marching band drum roll. While the lyrics again slip down into cliché and weak rhyme: “I’ve felt love in the loneliest places/Places love shouldn’t be found… Let me tell the truth/Let me come alive/Let me build the bridges into your life,” somehow Craig B almost manages to sell it; strings empowering him. While ‘Barriers’ is still unable to properly capture the credible sentiment that we can assume Aereogramme were searching for – the ending of the song reverts back to cheesy piano refrains and yearning vocals that sound as if they fell off the back of an Australian Idol single – it is hard to avoid the charm of the chorus melody; attaching itself to the listener like a suckfish.

If you decide to buy My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go be forewarned: this is an album that you will listen to for about a week. It will be one of those releases that you impulse-buy like that kid in the supermarket, probably on the strength of a song or a recommendation. You’ll try to convince yourself that you like it, and you’ll even have a few reasons to back this up. But ultimately, you are just lying to yourself and you know it. The album is average, and it is doubtful that it will ever get a repeat spin after the first week of guilty listening.