Coming eighteen years after their (at the time) overlooked masterpiece, Fantastic Planet, Failure‘s The Heart Is a Monster picks up where Fantastic Planet (and the 1990s) ended. Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards, and Kellii Scott created an album in 2015 that linked to their past (and the past of their fans) and also showed what a stunning future could be had if we all came together and chose to pursue it.
Opening with the instrumental “Segue 4” (again, picking up after “Segue 3” on Fantastic Planet), The Heart Is a Monster jumps up in volume and beat with “Hot Traveler” – a song about begging for forgiveness after an accidental wrong (“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I had to make a snap move, but now I see your purpose.”). The powerful Failure guitars, soaring synths, and sharp drum chops are all here right away, assuring fans that Andrews, Edwards, and Scott hadn’t lost anything in over a decade – and in fact had only grown in power. “A.M. Amnesia” is a stand-out, which Scott pounding hard beats and drilling fills that make your jaw drop while Andrews and Edwards sing about a woman who exists in both darkness (“You were born on the bottom of the ocean.”) and in the the infinite light of space. Cosmic space is a common theme in Failure’s work, and it’s great to hear them continue to explore that theme on this record.
“Snow Angel” has a heavy, almost doom groove to it, which makes me wish Failure would make a doom metal record. The groaning, squealing guitar of “Atom City Queen” only reinforces that wish. “Counterfeit Sky,” a song about realizing most of your problems (if not all of them) are self-inflicted, has layers of Andrews’ and Edwards’ guitars constantly switching with Scott’s drums for the lead.
I can’t help but wonder if “Petting the Carpet” is a sequel to their classic song “The Nurse Who Loved Me,” which contains the lyrics, “Say hello to the rug’s topography. It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it.” “Petting the Carpet” starts with the lyrics, “Petting the carpet. Saliva flows strong.” Both songs blaze with sun-bright guitar chords and thick bass. “Mulholland Dr.” blends sci-fi themes of aliens and mutants with trippy “Sgt. Pepper’s”-era Beatles chords (courtesy of Troy Van Leeuwen – who was in Failure for a short time and went on to become a full-time member of Queens of the Stone Age).
“Fair Light Era,” with its lyrics of “What’s all this space junk? These gems behind my eyes?” might be a sly reference to the “one hundred stones that sparkle in darkness” on Fantastic Planet‘s “Sgt. Politeness.” “Come Crashing” hits with crashing cymbals and power chords before it drops, weightless, into “Segue 7,” and then “The Focus” kicks open the door with a killer bass line that isn’t screwing around. The guitars on “Otherwhere” sound like the calls of robotic birds of prey. “I Can See Houses” tells a haunting tale of a man, possibly Andrews, seeing the world fall away from him as the airplane he’s on rises into the sky and he realizes he has to let go of things binding him to earthly illusions. The album closes with “Segue 9” to leave us in a trippy headspace.
The Heart Is a Monster was a great return for Failure, who have since released three more albums, will begin another tour, and have a documentary film about the band coming soon. Go to space with them. You’ll come back changed.
Keep your mind open.
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