Heart’s Racing
Aenaos, 2020
9/10
A long running Swedish outfit spearheaded by Razmig Tekeyan, The Search return rather quickly with a large handful of tunes where the spotlight’s on guitar as Tekeyan wrote, recorded and played all instruments here.
“Saturday Night” starts the listen with warm acoustic strumming as soulful vocals steer the calm opening, but things change quickly with the bright ‘80s synth-rock of “Under The Radar”, where post-punk sensibilities enter the soaring atmosphere, and this formula continues with the anthemic and dreamy “When The Stars Align”.
As we enter the middle, songs like “Ghosts” takes a more dramatic turn where expressive singing and gentle melodies make an impression on the tribute to the band Pulp, while “Lost” enters ballad territory where an emotive spirit enters the unplugged environment. “In My Restless Dreams”, an album standout, then builds into a beat driven, hazy, nostalgic rocker that sounds like it would have soundtracked a John Hughes flick perfectly.
Deeper into the 18 track album, “Specimen” is especially luminous with its crisp drumming and synth flourishes, and “Tell Me I’m Not Alone” exits the record with moody strings accompanying the intimate display of timeless, flawless execution.
The Search’s first album was released back in 2004, and they’ve consistently released an album every 2 years, except 2020, where they offered 2 albums. If you’re like me, and grew up in the ‘80s and still spin plenty of post-punk and New Wave, you’ll be immediately seeking out their back catalog and anticipating new music, especially since Viktor Thylwe, Johann Bernovall, and Eric Nyberg are now in band.
Travels well with: The Psychedelic Furs- Made Of Rain; Animotion- Raise Your Expectations