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With her softly sweet singing voice, uncanny ability for writing pop songs that stay with you, Hearts of Palm UK is centered around the talents of Erica Elektra. Catchy yet emotionally direct, she writes clever indie-poptronica — “hits”, which are softly melancholic and uplifting at the same time…and all done quite literally in heels, a fact revealed both onstage and in homemade videos where prom-style dresses and casual LA kitsch abound.
The Hearts of Palm UK debut album For Life is a glittering, twinkling array of songs that describe heartache, loss, love, hope and optimism. Mastered in Sweden by Henrik Jonsson (Peter Bjorn and John, Robyn, The Knife, Lykke Li, Camera Obscura), and scheduled for release Oct 14 on the Hypnote label, the album fuses the intensity of electro, the sweetness of lo-fi indie pop, the danceability of Euro club hits and the rawness of folk music.
For Life is actually the culmination of years of musical effort which began at age two with piano lessons from Erica’s mother, a Russian piano teacher; a locally successful Bay Area riot-grrrl era band (The Fancies); a seemingly never-ending and frustrating search for bandmates on the LA Craigslist; to finally turning to her good friend Frankie Rose in November 2006, when Hearts of Palm UK was formed. A 4-song demo was circulated, which got HOPUK some local, regional, international press and online attention and ultimately helped win Erica the award of “best up-and-coming female musician in America” in GenArt and Biore Skincare’s Undiscover/Discover contest. Erica used the proceeds of the grant to further the progress of the recording of an album of material culled from the many songs she had written, mostly in response to falling in love, and then to the disintegration of that love.
Written mostly on the guitar with simple acoustic strummings and single track vocals, Erica decided to electrify everything on her new Korg workstation, essentially turning the songs into remixes of themselves. She expanded on them, creating sequences with multiple tracks, weaving in and out with bleeps, glitches, and various other effects.
At that point she decided to get a real engineer involved and began working with Dan Horne of Lone Palm Studios in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. A good friend, musician, and member of many bands, the two re-recorded 11 songs from scratch… all with the intention of putting together the first HOPUK album. Night after night, Erica and Dan worked together (they share the album’s Producer credit), enlisting various musician friends to help add their creative input. It was then that Erica invited her friend and veritable one-woman string section Jamie Kaye to become a permanent member.
The result is a gorgeous and lasting album, aptly named… For Life.
Go HOPUK, go!!!
"Hearts of Palm UK, who, contrary to their name, actually hail from the hip L.A. suburb of Echo Park, are southern California's answer to the Knife. Their sultry poptronica is just as sexy, sleek, atmospheric, and danceable as any of their Swedish counterpart's work."- Urb Magazine
"Elektra's twinkling, twitchy keyboard-and-sequencer ditties imply a long history with Euro artists such as the Notwist and Stereolab, but in place of icy detachment there is plaintive optimism."- Los Angeles Times
"There's a soothing, gentle aura to the music that makes a listener tingle all over." - XLR8R
"The trio worked with Swedish producer Henrik Jonsson (Peter Bjorn and John, The Knife, Lykke Li) to help create the indie-dance vibe for
their Hypnote Recording Concern debut For Life. Through the lead single, "I Flow", it's possible to hear both the Swedish and California influences, but the UK? Hell, if Au Revoir Simone can pretend to be French, we owe it to give Hearts Of Palm UK a chance, right?" - The Tripwire
"the electro-pop duo have generated a buzz on the West Coast." - CMJ.com
"How do you make an indie pop band? Take some Camera Obscura, mix in some Stereolab, add a pinch of Go-Gos and some Human League… voila! Hearts of Palm UK."
- Best Week Ever (VH1)
"The trio, led by singer and songwriter Erica Elektra, unearths the best of '80s electro-pop and marries it gorgeously with the lo-fi, indie aesthetic."
- Prefix Magazine
"The first thing that strikes you upon listening to Hearts Of Palm UK's debut album, For Life, is how magically infectious the melodies are. The second thing that one notices is the effort that has been put into coloring the songs with lovely cascades of synthesizer loops and keyboard patterns, as well as the brooding basslines that serve to ground the album." - Power of Pop
".a band that's a little bit of cheeky girlishness, a little bit of electronic swagger, and a little bit of sunny pop."
- Venus Zine
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