Neu Stubborn Heart

: Stubborn Heart
Based: London
Listen: soundcloud.com/stubbornheartuk
Similar to: Listening in on your darkest thoughts.

While one London act, AlunaGeorge, give the charts a fresh look with their squeaky-clean R&B pop; another duo based in this very city are a touch more melancholic, more concerned with managing to get out of bed in the morning than hitting the heights of the Top 10. XL Recordings-affiliated Stubborn Heart are Luca Santucci and Ben Fitzgerald, two gloriously inventive musicians who get their kicks from writing pensive, anxious pop songs.

The first of these was ‘Need Someone’, an exceptional introduction of stunning proportions - all full of wants and needs, desire lining its outer surface. Returning track ‘Knuckledown’ - indication of a forthcoming debut EP on Kaya Kaya Records - blends the sound of bellowing seagulls with a pure and miserable chorus; pitch-shifted vocals somewhat distracting from the sadness on display. The instrumentation, though - fidgety, disturbingly deep and bass-heavy - make the song practically incomparable to anything else around. Jamie Woon parallels will come in thick and fast but if you’re comparing this to something so light and bereft of actual substance, you’re in need of a closer listen.