Shoe-gazing and heart-strung, it’s impossible to ignore The Heartbreaks’ illustrious influences. Yet whilst the hand of The Smiths, amongst others, is keenly felt, their music is much more than simple homage.
The Heartbreaks are a quartet whose modern Morrisey-esque take on love, life and loss is rapidly garnering admirers. Inspired though they are by their forefathers, The Heartbreaks have succeeded in producing a sound of their own distinct making. Their creativity is fuelled, in no small part, by what has gone before; not just musically, but geographically and emotionally. Originally hailing from the seaside town of Morecambe, the foursome’s music bleeds a yearning and sombreness inextricably linked with their hometown and its faded glamour – a sort of plastic soul.
Tight, tidy tunes, rolled up sleeves and steely glares hint at a workmanlike approach, which, coupled with the swaggering Matt Whitehouse – the band’s delicately attractive lead – suggest The Heartbreaks may be built on sturdier foundations than the failed trysts that inform their songs. This industry belies a sense of effortless style and elegance that has seen the band’s appeal burgeon amongst the fashion fraternity. Endorsed by Hedi Slimane and featuring as the faces of the ASOS BLACK collection, the quartet seem well equipped to steal British indie music’s vacant throne.
Though their backward glancing is prominent, make no mistake the band are just as refreshing for their thoroughly modern sense of self-awareness as they are for their unapologetic leanings to the past, and thus, paradoxically, The Heartbreaks jangling guitar hooks will continue to shake, rattle and roll into the future.
Text Joseph Clarke-Knowles
Film Georgia Hudson and Sean Frank
