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In the last year, Sydney duo Heart People have gone from spiritual revery in the Painted Desert, to electronic technicolour disco. But somehow, that evolution doesn’t feel unnatural on the versatile electronic outfit. The creative collaboration between Ryan Grieve and Rachel Rutt, Heart People unveiled their latest release Show You last month, along with accompanying visual.
Heart People’s genesis as a side project offered free reign without the overthought of a full venture. The group continues to channel a real, unshackled creativity.
The two came together through Grieve’s involvement in Canyons (he is also part of currently acclaimed Venus II), as Rutt danced along to a DJ set he was performing. Inspired by former collaborations with non-musicans, Grieve brought Rutt into the studio to try out some ideas.
According to Rutt “[they] got together as Heart People over experimenting with poetry over some music that Ryan was making. It started off as spoken word and evolved from there.”
Representing quite a cross-pollination of creativity between them; music, textiles, visual and conceptual arts, Heart People seems extend further than just making music.
Their debut track Blue Star from last year brought together atmospheric electronica with a kind of tribal, natural world inspired sensibility. Rutt’s vocals comprise spoken word with lo-fi melodies, and sparse beats accompany wild calls and dreamy synths.
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The duo have taken that same feel, but shifted it up a gear on new single Show You. Speaking about the recording process for the song, Rutt said that:
“Our recording process has changed a bit recently. Initially Ryan would create music and then I would try vocals over the top, as I said, beginning with poetry (either that I had written myself, or favourites from books).”
“Nowadays I’m feeling a lot more confident with my singing and the process has starting merging much more than just having two layers alongside one another. We are building songs more closely and at the same time, and this sense of unification is really starting to shape what we consider our sound.”
Drawing more on pop and disco, solid beats are still sparse but with a glitchy syncopation of the Casio keyboard variety. Rutt’s vocals too, have taken on a more assured feel. She describes the inspiration behind the track as “It’s a love song and its really just about giving all you have because you can’t do anything else.”
The double-tracked vocals and with an almost a new wave feel to the track, as the refrain “I can’t get enough” rides over a deep bassline. Heart People layer in more frenetic, futuristic sounds on this one, as well as some excellent accent synths when the pace picks up.
The final chorus is nearly pure pop as Rutt pushes into Madonna territory, circa Power Of Love era. Ending slightly abruptly, Show You quietly shuns a more traditional song structure – gradually building and climbing, despite the pop feels it is actually more of a dance track.
You only get one go at that glorious finale. From an EDM standpoint, they could have drawn that out for miles, but Heart People keep it short and sweet and punchy.
With the clip for Show You also out for your viewing pleasure, Heart People have swapped the desert for smokey dance floors and psychedelic colours. Directed by Byron Spencer, he was inspired by “the concept of 70s sci-fi meeting a psychedelic cabaret bush rave” for the video.
With input from Matthew Gode, Rutt is joined by backing dancers and choreography based on musical theatre and old Bob Fosse movies.
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Show You is the first release from Heart People’s forthcoming EP; Homecoming. They are also planning their first round of shows this month, after refining both their music and their performance over the last year.
You can catch Heart People’s debut Sydney gig on September 29 at the Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst, followed by an appearance at Heaps Gay’s 3rd birthday party as part of MoVement festival.
