Heartwind
Higher and Higher

Heartwind has ambitions to go higher and higher, towards the skies perhaps. The band is the story of two friends and a dream of making melodic rock/AOR coming true. It is a band with lots of experience from the music scene in Sweden and they make music inspired by the classics of the past with the modern touches of today. So the question is whether it is a high flying super album or just another one of those forgettable releases we see arriving in high numbers every year.

The music on this album can be described as melodic rock/AOR, music with catchy choruses and strong melodies. The production is strong and it is clearly noticeable that Eric Mårtensson has been pushing some buttons for the sound of this album. Decent variation and depth, perhaps it is a little bit predictable and not really groundbreaking in terms of the style, songs and sound. That is something one could desire at least a little bit. But it is clearly a solid production where I think the female guest vocals adds a lot of dynamics and depth to the album, that is clearly a wise thing to add. And they keep it short with the eleven tracks playing a little bit over 40 minutes, that is a good thing, as many albums tend to be too long, this is not. This sounds really good.

While the sounds is bordering on excellent, the album leaves a bit to be desired on the originality front. And I also think that the album needs an outstanding hit song that really stands out, the title track and One Night Away From You are two really memorable track but not standout compared with the best in the genre. But while the real major hit songs may be missing there are songs with hit potential, and I don’t think the album has any major weaknesses and pushes all the right buttons and should appeal to the fans of melodic rock and AOR genres.

It may miss that little extra engine that makes it fly higher and higher towards the skies but it is definitely an album that flies and should be investigated by those who enjoy the more melodic rock and hardrock genres. And I especially enjoy the fourth track One Night Away From You that I find to be quite memorable and perhaps a standout on this very solid album. I would describe this as an album worth checking out.

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