With The Dears, Hawaii, Broken Social Scene and Montreal’s Stars, it appears this is some sort of Canuck invasion of soft, googley-eyed lover’s pop. Rather than the sickening couples who flaunt their happiness in a way that makes you cringe, Heart is attractive enough that you’re more liable to gawk and think enviously to yourself, “I want me some of that.” “What the Snowman Learned About Love,” starts with a dangerously cloying series of answering machine messages, but is quickly redeemed by this year’s most alluring string-laced synthpop.
Like other happy pop couples (Luna’s Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips, Cinerama’s David Gedge & Sally Murrell), Stars pull it off because their love songs avoid clichéd vapidity found in most pop by tempering the romance with doubt, melancholy and yearning. Every tune tells a different story, set to sparkling, sophisticated musical accompaniment. An array of acoustic chamber instrumentation adds to the lovely veneer. If you’re too lazy to assemble a love/mash mix with The Magnetic Fields’ more wistful moments, Trembling Blue Stars and So Tough-era Sainte Etienne, Heart will do the job quite nicely.
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