The Heart Strings - 'Try Fly Blue Sky' (Grandpa Stan) Released 09/06/08

'Try Fly Blue Sky' is the debut album by Londoners The Heart Strings, an album dressed up in its' Sunday best that charms and lifts the spirits like the chance meeting with an old childhood chum. Fronted by the Roache brothers and featuring a live line-up of some seven musicians, 'Try Fly Blue Sky'  is given the added bonus of co-production by Julian Simmons who served time with Midlake and The Guillemots. 'Try Fly Blue Sky' revels in catchy folksy-pop melodies and an obvious love of Sufjan Stevens, with bands such as The Young Republic, The Hidden Cameras, Mercury Rev and a shading of Prefab Sprout providing a reference for melodies, while songwriting prowess reveals an Vampire Weekend-like wit and erudite airs of observation. Multi-instrumental arrangements are peppered with brass, xylophone, accordion, cello and organ, The Heart Strings dealing with nostalgic and wistful songs about trapeze artists, fallen stars, a very long-haired lassie and how Grandparents first met, as well as the big fish of pop-cosmology, all served with a good dose of bon homie to warm the cockles of your laboured ticker.

"...zap/ zoom/ whack/ whack/ kaboom..." sings Todd Roache with a nostalgic look at childhood games and role-play, an adjunct to a rolling piano-led melody that hooks the attention from the off. 'Cannonball Stan' reminds of  Mercury Rev's 'Goddess On A Hiway' and deals with lofty themes of love and moustache wax, whereas the timorous 'He Wanted To Fly And He Flew' lacks zip and fizzle but rolls along with a good dose of gaiety, Roache observing how "...he wanted the heights/ he wanted the view...". 'Mariana' blasts with brass on a Sufjan-like jolly and witty aside - "...Of Mariana, Mariana/ She served me my pies with wanton brown eyes...", and the uncluttered arrangements permit the naive melody of 'The New Golden Days' a quiet reflective moment with xylophone tinkles.

The songwriting comes to the fore on the Sufjan-like naive melody of 'Pedalo' on a tale as tall as the seas as an ambitious sailor sets sail with a pedalo across the Atlantic and a long, long way to go as his friends wave him off to a roving minimal piano and harpsichord melody with wit in abundance - "...the sky was huge/ the sea was placid/ soon my vim was/ somewhat dimmed by/ bucket loads of/ lactic acid..." as fanfares of trumpet bring about a close. 'Jose Fernandez' finds chants of the title from the band as the high-wire trapeze artist goes about his poised pursuits - "...he always looked up/ he never looked down..." reminding of I'm From Barcelona, as does the ever so jolly 'Nina And Her Very Long Hair', only with Latin subtext - "...I have a tale/ But not a tail like felius domesticum...", and the dainty 'Her New Disaster', Roache singing in falsetto - "...she could have kept her head on/ she could have kept her dress on...". "...there's no place like space..." sings Roache as the folksy melodies go intergalactic, while 'General Sherman' furnishes a reverie, and the full moony night and auspicious signs of '1942' leads to a Grandparents first meeting - "...the man/ who was Stan/ saw the dame/ by the name/ of June..." as a Hidden Cameras richness of melody swoons.

'Try Fly Blue Sky' has a fabulous felicity of touch as naive melodies prove the strength behind Todd Roache's songs. Giving obvious homage to the charms and musicality of Sufjan Stevens, there is a charm and uniqueness in Todd Roache's songs that remind of the adage - from small acorns... 'Try Fly Blue Sky' opens the curtains wide to greet the day, cutting an album so infectious you'll want to spread it by fair means or foul.