Song You Need: Heartworms’ “Consistent Dedication” is a jolt from the shadows
The south London-based artist is shaking up a rapidly tiresome sound.
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Listening to the dark and gloomy "Consistent Dedication" by London's Heartworms you'd be forgiven for pegging goths The Cure or Siouxsie and the Banshees as influences. Speaking to The Quietus, however, Jojo Orme revealed a less likely inspiration in the form of the glittery, theatrical Scissor Sisters and their song "The Skins." There is an undeniable funk swing to Heartworms post-punk, with Orme's guitar set to groove as opposed to bludgeon. It is this sense of rhythm that sets Heartworms apart from a British scene that has felt a little stale in recent times. A flood of post-IDLES bands, marrying dark-hearted riffs with spoken word vocals, have started to feel repetitive and dull. Heartworms is moving things forward.
"Consistent Dedication" isn't entirely divorced from that world, it is released via Speedy Wunderground, something of a ground zero for the scene, after all. Yet Orme's delivery, icy in parts but entirely comitted elsewhere, sells it. "Ugly is the man, he’ll chew his eyes," she screams as the song reaches its raging crescendo. "Tumble from the high, full of surprise." It's an attention-grabbing introduction to an artist full of mystery; the kind who makes you ask questions (chiefly, why does she dress as a fighter pilot at all times?) There's a spark of something exciting here. Let's see where it goes.