“With Heaven to a Tortured Mind, Yves Tumor dials down on the experimentation, instead delivering a much more cohesive and accessible art rock opus.”

One of the first albums that I ever wrote a full-length review for was Yves Tumor’s Safe in the Hands of Love. I gave it a positive score, citing its experimental nature as a strong plus point. However, I do recall feeling that the album’s lack of cohesion – a result of its sound changing completely from track to track – was somewhat detrimental to its enjoyment. With Heaven to a Tortured Mind, Yves Tumor dials down on the experimentation, instead delivering a much more cohesive and accessible art rock opus.

HTATM is a strong example of an artist appreciably evolving their style; it sounds different but still feels very much like an album only he could make.

Despite a move away from the electronic/experimental sound that dominated Sean Bowie’s past work, HTATM is a strong example of an artist appreciably evolving their style; it sounds different but still feels very much like an album only he could make. The noisy and abrasive ‘Medicine Burn’, for instance, further explores the industrial sound and evocative songwriting that he has touched upon in previous work. Guitars warp and drums crash as Sean Bowie delivers the “and six hundred” hook in a very Sean Bowie melody. Similarly, ‘Folie Imposée’, one of the darker cuts on the album, has an almost techno-esque instrumentation and the same feral lyricism (“our very own bloodbath/a spiritual war crime”) of some of the grimier cuts on Safe in the Hands of Love.

While HTATM refrains from getting too experimental, it is a pleasure to see that Bowie does not hold back on his usual eccentricities and generously adds in a healthy dose of allure to each track. “I wanna dance inside your hurricane/Blinded by your glare again”, he croons through filtered vocals and murky synthesizers on the short-but-sweet ‘Romanticist’. Moreover, the psychedelic guitar riffs, the grand choruses and the Prince influences on ‘Kerosene!’ combine to make it one of the most memorable songs of 2020 yet. It is a magnificent track that does a great job of encapsulating that feeling of giving your all to someone and being oddly comfortable with it.

While HTATM is not a concept album, it feels important to have a recurring theme to ground its genre-bending sound and make the project feel cohesive.

On that note, this theme of being dependent on a love that sometimes proves to be a difficult one is present throughout the album. In the opening track, ‘Gospel for a New Century’, Bowie sings about begging a significant other to “take it softer” on him. This is contrasted on later tracks like ‘Dream Palette’ where he seems to question why he has gotten himself stuck in this situation in the first place; “is this fundamental love?”, he repeatedly asks the listener. Finally, in the last lines of the funky, downtempo closing track, he brings it all full circle by confessing to his lover that they “deserve some different kind of love”. While HTATM is not a concept album, it feels important to have this recurring theme to ground its genre-bending sound and make the project feel cohesive.

Yves Tumor has always shown diversity in their albums – and HTATM is no exception. The genre fusions are unconventional, yet Sean Bowie just manages to make them work. On ‘Hasdallen Lights’, the watery synthesizers, falsetto vocals and subtle strings make the track feel like a combination of soul, funk and (no joke) vaporwave. Furthermore, the thick basslines and jazz-rock motifs of the instrumental cut ‘Asteroid Blues’ remind me of the aesthetics of another great album by another great Bowie: Blackstar by David Bowie.

Yves Tumor’s music video for ‘Gospel for a New Century’

Unfortunately, these explorations do not always work. The most obvious example of this is the underwhelming ‘Strawberry Privilege’, which feels like a generic alternative rock track. The repetitive lyricism and annoying background vocals make it the obvious black sheep of what is otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable LP.

From my judgment, the only thing that you can expect from Yves Tumor before diving into any of their music is that it will be weirder than most. Heaven to a Tortured Mind does not only follow through on this promise, but also provides a consistently pleasurable listen throughout its 36-minute runtime. Most importantly, it cements Yves Tumor’s status as one of the most groundbreaking musical acts right now and serves as a reminder for why their music should be on your radar.