Owen Pallett has provided a bit of a head scratcher on his pre, proper LP Heartland release - Plays to Please.  Throughout the five song EP, there are attempts to wrap his classically inspired instrumentation into a more condensed, vocaled narrative; however, he ends up finding himself stuck somewhere between sonata composer and singer songwriter.

Since this is a lead up to Heartland, it’s reasonable to think these are more a collection of half baked b-sides.  “Horsetail Feathers” is probably the most LP worthy song on Plays to Please.  A theatrical, musical inspired track, you can almost picture Owen tap dancing his way down a constructed city street set in an old Canadian theater.

The longer I’ve sat with this five song collection, the more I’ve warmed up to it and found the melodies and through lines in each song that really passed by me the first few plays.  If you enjoyed Final Fantasy’s last LP He Poos Clouds (terrible name but great record!) then give this EP a few times through before you reach your conclusion.

[mp3] Final Fantasy - Horsetail Feathers