Early into it,
Love Heart Cheat Code seems to have the makings of the first concept album by Australia's premier hardcore avant-soul/jazz/funk/hip-hop band. "Dreamboat," a grand intro with harp, piano, and voice, could be interpreted as
Hiatus Kaiyote's "Lovely Sky Boat," about a vessel -- not necessarily a romantic interest -- that enables dynamic-as-ever singer/guitarist
Nai Palm and the preternatural rhythm section of
Perrin Moss,
Paul Bender, and
Simon Mavin to travel the spaceways. It leads to "Telescope," a glimmering groove of interstellar wonderment where everything apart from an interpolation of
the Temptations' "My Girl" seems otherworldly. The following "Make Friends," however, departs from any perceptible sci-fi narrative with
Palm praising a he, a she, and a they for being down-to-earth companions. For its high number of pleasurable components and intricacies,
Stevie Wonder-worthy changes in key and tempo, and philosophical goodwill, "Make Friends" is the band's new creative apex.
Palm's morphing into a one-woman
Wonderlove seals it at the end. Earthly delights are elsewhere in the optimistic and elated "Everything's Beautiful," one of several songs that both references the sun and incorporates flute and harp, and on the lysergic
Dilla-fied funk of "Dimitri," though that could be set in the Land of Oz. (And who knows what
Palm means when she proclaims, "We are all amputees of our divination"?) Surprises and oddities flourish. Almost a decade after the band started playing it live, "Cinnamon Temple," a spasmodic eruption of technical life metal with "Fuck it up, buttercup" spit out like an affectionate battle mantra, is finally nailed down for posterity. "Longcat" pays swirling tribute to a toy cat the band bought at a rest stop in Japan. Everyone's favorite multi-hyphenate robot, BMO of Adventure Time, introduces "Everything's Beautiful" by singing its hook. The band finishes off the album by following "Cinnamon Temple" with a raucous remake of
Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" that shoves the acid rock classic in front of a fun house mirror. Increased chaos and whimsy only heighten
Hiatus Kaiyote's ability to enchant and exhilarate. ~ Andy Kellman
