HEADS HEARTS

001. FEB2012. TALK.

In 1999, Cassius’s “Feeling for You” pushed Gwen McCrae’s “All This Love That I’m Giving” into the top 20. Now a South London duo, Heads.Hearts, gives us “Dance Girls Dance”, a track taking bassline inspiration from the same 1979 song.

Heads.Hearts comprises the producing, programming and playing talent of Ed Cox and vocals of Amber Taylor-Groves. “Dance Girls Dance” began life in Cox’s house on the Isle of Dogs; the pair set down the pace of the McCrae classic and they improvised over it.

Cox was classically-trained in piano as a teenager, and after a fling with Britpop he flirted with techno and dance at university, enjoying Jeff Mills, Stacey Pullen and Dave Clarke. At that time he listened to Giorgio Moroder (the man who soundtracked Brian de Palma’s “Scarface”), Jerry Goldsmith’s “Logan’s Run” score and Wendy Carlos’s synthetic accompaniment to the Elgar in “A Clockwork Orange”.

Nowadays, Cox is interested in anything on Kitsuné or Modular: Cut Copy, Passion Pit, Justice or Digitalisme. He recorded a vocal for “See What You Get” on Groove Armada’s 2007 “Soundboy Rock” though Andy Cato and Tom Findlay ended up just using Cox’s synth line. That was two years ago. Session fee in hand, after performing as a second vocalist along with Taylor-Groves in one of her previous bands, the pair set about assembling their own group.

“It was nerve-wracking,” says Cox. “I can do the whole showman thing. But I was nervous after she started singing because it was something else. First impression was, ‘Fuck she’s good’.”

Despite it being early days the duo already have an impressive video for their track “Qualified” courtesy of independent filmmakers Crafty Clown Productions. Hollywood-quality makeup artists helped produce the video’s slatted look, an aesthetic that they continue to play with, as well as the power of Cox’s accomplished Korg MS2000, Roland SH-101 and Logic programming abilities.

Heads.Hearts are currently looking for management and press representation, as well as planning to release a four-track EP later this year.  “I think we’re doing the best we can do,” concludes Cox. “Amber’s singing the best she can, I’m producing the best I can, the songwriting is best it could be. I am pretty pleased. Creatively that’s pretty satisfying.” (RS)

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