Amore Del Tropico by The Black Heart Procession (Review)

Over the course of their existence, San Diego’s Black Heart Procession has been one of the most distinct and recognizable voices in the indie rock world. Nobody, absolutely nobody, sounds anything like them. Bizarre funeral marches populated with musical saws, strings, horns, tromping rhythms, and Pall Jenkins’ mournful wail of a voice creates a stunning audio experience. So what do they do with their new release? They go and change it all up. And while it may not be as dark and bleak as earlier releases, Amore Del Tropico is every bit as impressive.

Taking a page out of Havalina’s school of concept records, Jenkins and company have taken their signature sound and grafted it with a whole new string of rhythms and tones to create a film noir soundtrack to tropical crimes of passion. The Havalina comparison is actually quite apt given the range of instrumentation here, but the Procession has been at the game longer and it shows.

While not a technically “good” singer, Jenkins has one of the more arresting and versatile voices in the indie rock world and he knows exactly how to use it to generate the effect he wants. As an added bonus, Liz Janes — whose Sufjan Stevens-produced debut is well worth picking up — turns up as a backing vocalist to add a female counterpoint to Jenkins’ moaning and wailing.

The production here is brighter than previous Procession releases but still maintains a suitably dark, echoing tone. The band subscribes to an odd fusion of the “less-is-more” and “wall-of-sound” philosophies. Melodies are kept as simple as possible, but the arrangements are packed tight with layers of other instruments, voices and general atmospherics to fill up all the empty nooks and crannies.

There must have been a huge temptation for the Black Heart Procession to stick to the formula of their previous releases. After all, it’s worked fine all along, so why mess with a good thing? Well, simply enough, they were in danger of becoming a one trick pony. Amore Del Tropica isn’t their best record, but it’s pretty close, and the expansion of their sound gives the Procession room to grow and breathe in previously impossible directions.

Written by Chris Brown.