Heavy AmericA – “Paper Hearts”
Heavy AmericA – “Paper Hearts” – Single Review
The boys are back in town!
You know, I knew something was strange about last year. I got to the end of 2024, and something just felt like it wasn’t complete. Now I know what it was! We didn’t end up reviewing a Heavy AmericA tune, and no year could ever be considered to be complete without getting one in, right? So in an effort to compensate for the lack of Heavy AmericA last year, I turned their latest single up twice as loud.
Maybe it’s a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, or maybe they’ve just got themselves a fucking good song here – I’ll let you be the ultimate judge & jury on that. From my perspective, it’s at least a little from column A and a whole lot column B. I don’t ever keep bands & artists on some kind of timer or schedule, they show up with new music when they show up, and I’m plenty used to that. So heck yeah, obviously I miss the bands and artists I dig on when they’re not around, but I’m more than content to keep my head down & do the work in the meantime. When they show up again, it’s like a genuine treat to the ears to hear some kind of noticeable growth, or at least a killer new track or two.
When I put on “Paper Hearts” from Heavy AmericA, I knew right away that they were on solid ground this time around. To be entirely fair, they usually are! I’ve been listening to this Boston-based band’s music for the better part of a decade at this point…not quite a full one yet, but close. You get the point though, it’s not their first rodeo – these are seasoned veterans of the music scene that can be relied on. When they put out a new song, it’s going to be worth your time to listen way more often than not. If anything, when I had my initial spin through “Paper Hearts,” my first thoughts all surrounded how wonderfully wicked the sound of the opening verse was, and how much of a challenge it would be to come up with a chorus that could possibly rival how kickass the design of that first verse. It’s one of those slick & sly grooves that has Heavy AmericA creepin’ and crawlin’ with a deadly movement that feels both haunting, and like it could flare up & freakin’ bite you at the same damn time. If you’re really listening closely to the lyrics, you’ll probably feel like you get a justifiable chill or two down your spine, especially during the last verse you’ll find in “Paper Hearts.” For a song that’s nearly five minutes long, you get a whole lot of time with whatever part of the song might end up being your favorite, and with a significant dose of both its verses & choruses, it feels like the band has created a real tight track armed with a cohesive story threaded into their latest single. Of course, you’ll find other major contributing factors as to why you’d wanna tune in to listen…their musicianship is spectacular in this song…big meaty bass-lines, gritty guitars, gnarly drums, intense vocals…you’ll also find a badass solo in “Paper Hearts” where the whole band really lights it up for a moment, and the use of harmonics to signal the shift into the chorus was like a chef’s kiss. Every time you hear it, it’s like the Pavlov’s Bell effect…you know something tasty is coming right around the corner, and I think that ultimately, that’s true. I don’t know that I’d go as far as to say that the chorus completely lives up to the universal appeal that’s on display in the verses – but I don’t want anyone to confuse that with being let down, because I didn’t feel that way at all either. It’s a solid fit, and it’s got tangible hooks of its own. By all accounts, anyone out there listening might rightly feel the opposite way about “Paper Hearts” than I did – there are going to be some folks that would likely tell ya the chorus is what steals the show for Heavy AmericA here, and if that’s how you feel, then right on…no harm, no foul. I’m all about the verses of this one…that’s what has the most for my ears, but I do appreciate how the chorus plays a significant role in this track and I’m not opposed to anything I hear. Look at it this way…the verses are filled with slick sound that’s more common to be found in the Alt/Grunge world, whereas what you’ll hear in the chorus is much more in a straightforward Rock or Hard-Rock design. There’s a good chance that one part might stand out to you more than the other, and that’s just fine.
The bottom line though, is that they managed to get both these main halves of this song’s personality to fit snugly in a cohesive way that feels like it all belongs together. I also like that they take the energy up when they make that shift from verse to chorus, which adds a noticeable spark of excitement that’s brilliantly queued up in that moment of harmonics & brief pause that occurs right before they launch into it. As they are somewhat known to do, Heavy AmericA has a great way of giving you a whole lot on the inside of what’s still a relatively short amount of time…so in this track for example, you get a quick intro, verses, choruses, solo, bridge, breakdown, bring back, and finale…that’s an intense structure, but they proceed to nail it all with the tight professionalism you’d expect to find from a band that has as much experience as they do at this point in their career. So to sum it all up, “Paper Hearts” delivers, and never disappoints – it’s fully loaded with an array of sound & steady musicianship you’ll be stoked to listen to. No complaints from me here – I think they’ve got something stellar from the music to the microphone on “Paper Hearts,” and I fully suspect the fans of all-things-Rock will feel the same way I do. Excellent use of timing, editing & effects in their new video supporting “Paper Hearts,” and I love that you get a serious dose of political & social commentary smartly threaded into rapid fire clips of straight up strangeness & footage of the band – when you combine it all together, this all feels like some of their most thought-out and complete work to-date for sure.
Find out more about Heavy AmericA from their official website at: https://heavyamerica.us
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