THE BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA

Multi-instrumentalist duo return with more ethereal odes. The Blackheart Orchestra’s Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington fuse indie-folk, art-rock, electronica, chamber pop, and other cultured styles into individualistically haunting ballads. Hotel Utopia carries that tradition on, evoking everyone from Anathema to Bat for Lashes. The intersecting guitar patterns and Mostyn and Pilkington’s vocal dualities on The Tide are hypnotic. Safe and Atlantic are equally reserved and vulnerable, yet their irregular melodies, plucked harp notes, and rich harmonies suggest the pastoral imagination of Kate Bush’s early work. It’s not all delicate and sparse, though, since The Warning juxtaposes its meditative verses with robust choruses that are bolstered by roaring percussion and strings. Even Under The Headlights, Casting Spells, and Translucent – which lean closest toward the anthemic accessibility of mainstream rock –…