Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs

Filled with ambitiously conceived, grandly executed art/rock, Into Your Lungs from Canadian sextet Hey Rosetta! is the kind of album that inevitably gets the word "epic" thrown its way. But while many bands can get dragged down in the flames of pompous self-importance, Hey Rosetta! remains remarkably nimble (and humble) even when it's obvious that, like fellow countrymen Arcade Fire and New Pornographers, this is one of the smartest bands in the proverbial room. Released two years ago up north to ecstatic critical response, Into Your Lungs will finally see the light of day stateside this summer. And not a moment too soon. Hey Rosetta! is like a welcome and bracing jolt of intelligent discourse, when you know that you're listening to a creative soul with something important (and interesting) to say.

Within the span of one song the music surges and then ebbs, moving from dramatic firepower to gentle balladry through an intricate maze of moods and settings. The melodies have weight and import but the overall touch is deft and loosely held. The stately piano lines that kick off "We Made A Pact" evolve into a gorgeous vocal duet of sweeping beauty and a bed of delicately orchestrated strings. "Red Heart" and "Black Heart", conversely, deliver rhythmic sparks and ringing guitar lines, frontman Tim Baker grabbing hold of the melodies with conviction and authority as they explode into dense layers of stinging riffs and fluttering bass patterns. At the end of the Lung's dozen tracks -- most in the five to six minute range -- a feeling of elation and exhaustion. And an eagerness to begin again. Highly recommended.

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Hey Rosetta! - "Red Heart" (from the album Into Your Lungs)

Hey Rosetta! - "New Goodbye" (from the album Into Your Lungs)