The Heart Strings-Try Fly Blue Sky (2008)

"A beautiful, fun and diverse as the city they call home."

Judging a book by its cover (or, in this case, a band by its name), I expected the Heart Strings to be an overly emo and whiny group bent on, well, tugging at listener’s heart strings. And although the band sometimes does just that, this London-based quartet is versatile, citing everyone from Guns ‘n’ Roses to Ben Folds Five as influences and creating music that is both smooth and catchy with upbeat blends of brass and piano.

“He Wanted to Fly and He Flew” is perhaps one of the band’s more inspirational songs. The story that the lyrics tell is simple: a guy overcame adversity. But the instrumentation gives the song more complexity, as it begins with the tinkle of a xylophone and becomes more and more layered until the song’s climax. By the end of the song, the Heart Strings are showing off their stripped-down side again with a few simple piano chords.

The Heart Strings certainly have a quirky side. “Mariana” is about a man falling for a woman who works at a “greasy spoon.” Again, the band lets the music wax and wane; the chorus of brass and swelling voices of background singers would make you think this is a song about the most epic love story known to man. In reality, the song’s narrator describes his relationship with Mariana by singing, “She served me my pies with wanton brown eyes.”

The Album suitable for People live in center … there’re happiness.