Push The Heart

Devics | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Splinter
• ASIN: B000E3LFZM
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,212 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Lie to Me

2. Secret Message to You

3. Salty Seas

4. Song For a Sleeping Girl

5. Distant Radio

6. Just One Breath

7. Moments

8. If We Cannot See

9. City Lights

10. Come Up

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Drifting in like Sunday morning drizzle, Push The Heart is a record that often sounds afraid to wake anybody up. The fourth full-length from LA's Devics continues the gentle flow of 2003's The Stars At Saint Andrea, but expands and softens the arrangements as guitarist/keyboardist Dustin O'Halloran goes for a Mazzy Star-like intimacy. Not that there hasn't always been a little Hope Sandoval in vocalist Sara Lov's lilting and lovely alto, but Devics miss Mazzy's nocturnal, psychedelic edge. The record's best moments come when O'Halloran and Lov decide it's OK to raise a small ruckus and combine drawn-out phrasing with some rhythmic momentum. "Distant Radio" makes wonderful use of Lov's tone, and recalls some of The Sundays' wistful bliss, while "A Secret Message To You" features a cute typewriter click for tempo and atmosphere. But too often, songs leave compelling ideas dangling around the edges. "Salty Seas" mines a Cat Power vibe, but can't match Chan Marshall's emotional highwire kick. O'Halloran jumps in on vocals for "If We Cannot See" but his flat delivery is too close in the mix and blunts the song's dynamic range. Devics were obviously after a looser, subdued feel here, but a few targeted doses of passion and contrast would have made for something less somnambulistic and more quietly dramatic. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent relaxing music, September 21, 2011

By 

Ricardo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Push The Heart (Audio CD)

I heard one track of this album in the website of my favorite SPA hotel in Portugal. I went to amazon, got a copy of the album and I am fully blessed.

A little mellow...excellent music for a slow evening.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars one of the best albums yet from the group, March 18, 2006

By 

somethingexcellent (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Push The Heart (Audio CD)

Over the course of the past decade, the duo (and sometimes more) of Devics have released four full-length albums, a handfull of EPs, and several limited singles. The core of the group has always been singer Sarah Lov and multi-instrumentalist Dustin O'Halloran, and after making Los Angeles their home for many years, the two moved to Italy for some time after being signed with the UK label Bella Union. After making a name for themselves across the Atlantic with lots of shows in different countries, the duo returned back to California to record Push The Heart, their fifth full album.

I've heard a great deal of work from the group, and my favorite release is the excellent and well-rounded My Beautiful Sinking Ship, which seemed more cohesive and musically solid than their other efforts (their only Italian recorded release, The Stars at Saint Andrea, seemed a bit hit-or-miss to me). While it might feel a bit on the safe side for some fans of the group, Push The Heart is easily the most developed batch of songs from the group, easing through ten assured tracks of soft orchestral pop.

"Lie To Me" opens the album on a solid step as ethereal mellotron and moogs swirl around a guitar and piano driven instrumentation while Lov adds multi-tracked breathy vocals that take the track into appropriately otherworldly territory. "A Secret Message To You" strips things back a bit with found-sound typewriter percussion, accordion, upright bass, cello, and some more tickled ivories from O'Halloran while Lov's vocals get the old-timey tin-can filter treatment (an effective trick they manage to pull off about once per album).

From there, the album settles into a more standard sound, with a string of more lushly-produced tracks, of which any could probably find some radio play in the right places. "Song For A Sleeping Girl" finds O'Halloran doing an admirable job with lead vocal duties over some slick mid-tempo instrumentation while "Distant Radio" seems to channel The Sundays with soaring vocal melodies and chiming guitars. The group veers away from completely safe routes, though, and just about the time you think "If We Cannot See" is going all drippy ballad, the duo builds up a solid crescendo and rains down some gorgeous shimmering guitar textures. With any luck, this album should propel the long-running group into the consciousness of even more listeners.

(from almost cool music reviews)

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful!!, March 7, 2006

By 

hannah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Push The Heart (Audio CD)

dripping with talent! if you like radiohead, you'll like "push the heart".
its a great album, perfect for traveling!
top 3 songs: 1. Lie to me
2. moments
3. City lights