Hearts On Speed is a band comprised of remote collaborators in New York City, Atlanta and Seattle. David Yeend and Mark Galis Hall took on a challenge to record an album’s worth of songs in less than a month and continued on writing more material with David’s brother Mark Yeend. The trio’s single “So Serious” has that sort of blue eyed soul vocal style paired with a dynamic, simple guitar progression that is like its own call and response riff accented perfectly by the percussion as it goes into distorted solos that embody the frustration expressed in the lyrics. The latter seems to be coming from the perspective of the kind of man who thinks his innate charm and force of will can overcome any emotional rough patch and when it doesn’t he responds with anger, a willingness to be a clown and in more honest moments confusion. These strategies that worked for him before fail him in this moment and he struggles with trying to understand what’s wrong when part of the issue is assuming it’s a problem to solve, a situation to fix while starting to comprehend that maybe listening more rather than imposing a ready made solution is the way to go. You hear that dawning in the breakdown section in the last half of the song where the direct energy of the first half loses some of its momentum and wends in more nuanced directions and here is a distinct change of mood. It’s a subtle move but one that turns the song from a simple “Girl why do you have to break my heart” sentiment to one where our narrator starts to consider that his whole approach is flawed and yet it’s hard to give up old habits for growth. Fans of Spoon will appreciate the dynamic flair of the song and its pairing of power pop hooks with elegantly rendered dynamic shifts in mood and emotional coloring. Listen to “So Serious” on Spotify and follow Hearts On Speed on Instagram.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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