"
Heart-Shaped Mountain is our love album,"
Ha Ha Tonka declare in the liner notes to their fifth long-player. And sure enough, a spin of the album reveals a lot of these songs deal with relationships in one way or another. That's not to say that this is the
Ha Ha Tonka makeout album you've been dreaming of, or that these ten songs are full of cheery celebrations of the joy of romance.
Ha Ha Tonka have never shied away from writing about the tough nuts and bolts of life, and they approach love with a clear-eyed wisdom on
Heart-Shaped Mountain that's in line with their best work. From the bid to walk away from the modern world in "Favor" and the lovely anxieties of "Height of My Fears" to the multiple life lessons of "Everything," these songs are literate but full of heart and soul, the work of a group whose members are ambitious while still having their feet firmly planted in the real world. Musically,
Heart-Shaped Mountain sounds a bit less rootsy than
Ha Ha Tonka did on their earlier albums, but if they've absorbed more pop influences, they've integrated them well. The group harmonies are splendid, the performances are tight and thoughtful, the arrangements are polished by imaginative touches, and the production (by Jason McEntire and Dan Molad in tandem with the band) is clean but rich, capturing passion and precision in equal measure.
Heart-Shaped Mountain is a love album in the way love is part of a well-lived life, and
Ha Ha Tonka know how to take the ups and downs of a typical existence and make them into something honest and special. They continue to show that rare talent here and, ten years into their recording career, that's something they can point to with pride. ~ Mark Deming