ARTISAN GUNS - Hearts
ARTISAN GUNS - Hearts
Written by Shahlin Graves   
Tuesday, 27 April 2010 08:49
Artisan Guns - Hearts If you can't remember the last time that you listened to a CD from beginning to end without skipping tracks or feeling bored, then you my friend, are in dire need of the new ARTISAN GUNS EP.

Dearest friend, issues of free will aside - it's not so much that you won't want to stop listening to 'HEARTS', it's more that the addiction will gain mastery over all of your playlists - 'Hearts' is standalone proof that there IS hope for those still on good terms with their ears.

If you care enough to look beyond parroting auto-tune, second-rate attitude, and the pseudo caked-on faces of the local scene's top cash cows, there's gold to be struck... and Artisan Guns, are a burgeoning hope, for even better things to come.
'Hearts' freewheels like a tête-à-tête in the early hours of the morning; the kind of dialogue from which even more can be learnt, than from your bathroom mirror. From the fresh-faced 'North', to the rambunctious 'Brand New Game', the band capture the very life force of the human condition, spitting it back up into song. In a time where sixteen year old babies croon about 'true love', that Artisan Guns so perfectly project their own world - make their songs all the more real - and thus, spring to life in three-dimensional sagacity.

Opening track 'North' boasts my favourite line from 'Hearts' - "don't be worried, the future's not as scary as it seems" - frontman Matthew Hope narrating with all the honesty of Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard, plus the engaging sensibilities of Monsters Of Folk.

'Without You' endearingly showcases the band's cowbell loving temperament, while 'The End' demonstrates their auto-tune ingenuity. Lead single 'Into The Cold' is a snowball of earnestness, preceded by track three, the no-nonsense 'Going Back In Time'. Think - the humanity of Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, married to the melodic awareness of Mumford and Sons, with a shot of Aqueduct's frank perspective - charming!

'Hearts' is a little tempestuous... and a lot forthright. The sensitivities of youth are all accounted for and the result is disarming. It's like polaroid pictures - a little bit magical as you wait for it to develop... but even more fetching, as it comes into full colour - if 'Hearts' is the second EP snapshot; then I simply can't wait for the bigger picture, and even bigger promise, of a full-length album.

Watch the music video for 'Into The Cold' below...
 

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