Stubborn Heart

What's so good? So this has been sold as being for “fans of the three Js” – James Blake, Jamie xx and Jamie Woon. Needless to say, I was immediately interested. But which J does this mysterious London producer sound most like? At first, I was inclined to say Woon, the soulful vocals carried by a bassy melodic tune. As the song progressed, though, my view switched to Blake, with the interference and spacing bringing him to mind. By the end, I thought Jamie xx, as deep bass cut in and the drum pattern started to sound more and more garage-esque. I’d love to tell you more about this guy, but the truth is I can’t, and that’s because he’s just too elusive. So mysterious, in fact, that we couldn’t even find a proper image to put on this post. But anyone who manages to encompass the best bits of post-dubstep’s three biggest players has surely got a bright future indeed… so remember where you heard the name first! In the meantime, you can get the vinyl, which is limited to just 300 copies from: http://www.indieshuffle.com/stubborn-heart-need-someone/#! With ‘Need Someone’, the mysterious Stubborn Heart has crafted an understated song of real beauty, with the kind of sparse arrangement that manages to be emotive whilst showing real restraint. The track grows slowly, beginning with just a startlingly naked-sounding male vocal, a clipped electric drum beat, and moments of real, complete silence, which here work as important sounds in their own right. The lyrics are simple but poignant, and the mournful quality of the falsetto is enough to convey much of the meaning, the sparseness of the mix itself adding to the sense of loneliness. The clipped, and efficient automated beats, and the meandering, human voice play off each other well, resulting in an electronic track that is full of soul. When the vocal samples form a multi-voiced chorus, and the dark fuzziness descends, the contrast with what has come before adds to the drama and brings a sense of urgency and pain with very little effort. Throughout the whole song, the amount of feeling conveyed through such a minimalistic mix is impressive and results in something much greater than the sum of its parts. There’s very little information about South London’s Stubborn Heart, only that ‘Need Someone’ is available on (very) limited 12″ now. from: http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2011/05/stubborn-heart-need-someone/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.