SILVER HEART - PART 1

Pokerface is the Swedish group consisting of keyboardist/vocalist Stefan Heidevik and whoever he happens to be working with at the time. Silver Heart - Part 1 is I assume the first of a two-part work. In general, what is found here is similar to the last album Transeo. Differences include the absence of saxophone and trumpet, but the addition of an accordion. For whatever reason some of the song titles are in German. Basically the music of Pokerface can be described as a mix of modern experimental electronic music and 'traditional' avant-prog. Programmed beats are mixed with an actual human drummer; the drumming on this album stands out more than on the last one.

"Der Schloß Adler" is a short intro track which sounds like a mix of Finnish avant-proggers Alamaailman Vasarat and British IDM legends Autechre. "Thank You Wendy" starts off with some icy synth arpeggios and a little bit of guitar before turning into some electronic rock with jazzy guitar. Towards the end the drummer goes berserk in some great controlled chaos. "Sticks And Stones" is one of the highlights and one of the more accessible songs here. We get vocals for the first time on the album, both wordless harmony vocals and solo vocals in English. A moody piece of music but also oddly uplifting as well. Based around a slow metronome-like beat and synths.

"Autumn-Winter-Fall" is the most avant track on the album. No beats or any kind of a real melody or rhythm. Just synthetic crunching like sounds before some synth notes get repeated and accelerated. A little bit of guitar here which reminds me of Syd Barrett. "Muttersprache" is more in IDM territory musically while the vocals (which sound like both male and female) are subdued and moody. "Heartland (To Dad)" gets into post-rock/shoegaze mode. Nice atmospheric guitarwork soars over a repetitive and almost hypnotic rhythm on drums and bass. The drum pattern is fairly intricate while sounding more simple.

This song features singing which is doubled on a keyboard or vibes. Halfway the guitar playing changes to chords almost playing riffs, then goes back to being atmospheric. "Muttersprache Reprise" takes the melodies of the original and replicates them on strings. This time features two different sounding male voices. Silver Heart - Part 1 is a good follow-up to Transeo and is even better and more consistent. Recommended to fans of avant-rock and electronic-oriented rock. Who knows what Part 2 is going to sound like. I will give this 4 stars.