HTRK: String of Hearts (Songs of HTRK) CS

HTRK field beautifully faithful yet variegated cover versions of their decades-wide, timeless songbook from a host of contemporary greats: Loraine James, NWAQ, Perila, Coby Sey, Liars, Kali Malone & Stephen O’Malley, Sharon Van Etten and more.

Safe to say everyone lives up to the brief in their own way across ‘String of Hearts (Songs of HTRK)’, yielding myriad fresh perspectives on beloved, familiar songs that range from subtly displaced to wholly obliterated. With only scant exceptions from the likes of Mika Vainio during their 20 year run (and counting), HTRK have mostly eschewed any standard industry cash-cow remix set ’til now, as they cast the butterfly net far and wide to a broad spectrum of artists influenced by their catalogue, and who now prove the durability of their cherished craft.

It’s a rare treat to hear gems such as ‘Mentions’ bent by Coby Sey, who hews close to the OG but with a tormented, soulful grip of his own, as also heard on the likes of Sharon Van Etten’s subtly dusty transposition of ‘Poison’ to widescreen Americana scapes, or how Perila sublimates ‘HA’ to shimmering, chorus-pedal degrees comparable to Cocteau Twins, and the surprisingly straight-played cover of ‘Siren Song’ strung out by Malone/O’Malley, pipe organ in tow.

However, we’re more intrigued by those who tease the songs into unexpected interzones that nevertheless resonate something of their templates. Loraine James’ lushly suspenseful remix to ‘Dream Symbol’ is a case in point, feeling almost like a nightlight-attracted moth emerging from its chrysalis, whilst NYC’s Zebrablood reset ‘Soul Sleep’ to a gorgeous, spongiform ambient club cut, and Brooklyn noise rock lords Liars morph ‘Waltz Real Slow’ into autotuned chamber baroque. Ultimately, NWAQ can be counted on to smudge ‘Female Jealousy’ to the lushest, gauziest sort of emotional punishment, rubbing out the vox and heightening its atmospheric content to pure, textural frisson.