Discuss Merz and all of your favorite musicians in our forums.
Have you heard this album? Give us your rating above, 5 being best.
Merz Loveheart
Gronland
The story of Merz is one heard all-too often. In 1999 a sincere, well-intentioned young man arrives on the scene, cheered on by Jarvis Cocker and Jo Whiley to reasonable success, and just as everything seems about to go skywards for our young heroine---he loses it. But 7 years later, he’s back, with the Chris Martin seal of approval. Well, the particulars may change but the song…er, story, remains the same. Pop music is a fickle master, and to stay on top you have to constantly change with the times. Yet if any artist can be versatile enough for mainstream audience, it’s Conrad Lambert (aka. Merz).
Track listing:
01 Postcard From A Dark Star
02 Dangerous Heady Love Scheme
03 Verily
04 My Name Is Sad & At Sea
05 Butterfly
06 At Night I Dream Your Bedroom’S Crammed With Ducks
07 Warm Cigarette Room
08 Mentor
09 Leaving Song (Yorkshire Traction)
10 Loveheart
Even after half-a-decade of self-imposed seclusion in Bath (and even some time back on the dole) Lambert is determined to reclaim his position. And Loveheart may just be enough for these lofty goals.
Opener “Postcard From a Dark Star” has a chilly, Shins-y elegance that deserves to show up on this album more. It’s a sharp change of pace from either the singer-songwriter or electronica genre, as it leads in with a chiming piano scale and soft, rain-driven vocals. “Keep me in the dark, please,” he murmurs, creating a sublime exercise in mournful bedroom poetry.
Merz swerves from style to style, from the electro put-down “Dangerous Heady Love Scheme” (vaguely reminiscent of the Magnetic Fields) to acoustic ballad “Verily.” But somehow Merz triumphs in eclecticism where others would sound simply forced. The sparse and seafaring “My Name is Sad and At Sea” takes Elliott Smith and brings him to a 17th century vessel, with brooding vocals and a mordant wit. He does falter on “The Leaving Song,” (an aimless dirge), but for the most part the album avoids lethargy with bubbly tracks like the exuberant “Butterfly” and “Warm Cigarette Room.”
After one setback, Conrad is no doubt betting everything on Loveheart, and frankly it’s not a bad wager. Between the stylish electronic tunes and softer, acoustic numbers, Merz creates a lovely, enduring work that deserves to make him a star. Again.
