If you dare to enter the void, expect to hear Heartworms soundtracking the journey. Jojo Orme has set the UK DIY circuit aflame with her singular performance style, while NME hailed her as “your new favourite band of the year” upon the 2023 release of her debut EP ‘A Comforting Notion’. Now, teaming up again with Speedy Wunderground producer Dan Carey, Heartworms has unleashed her tightly written, pulse-raising debut album, ‘Glutton For Punishment’.
In this survey of man’s most masochistic impulses, Heartworms expands on the gothic dance-punk that first garnered her acclaim. Let’s be clear, she can still absolutely rip a riff like she did on ‘A Comforting Notion’ – the sheer physicality of the guitar on ‘Jacked’ will have you thrusting in no time. But Heartworms also pulls some new cards from her sleeve: ‘Just To Ask A Dance’ opens with a buccaneering string section, while an acerbic Kraftwerkian synth cuts through rippling trip hop on ‘Extraordinary Wings’.
Heartworms’ spoken word delivery is also a cut above many of her post-punk peers. At various points throughout the record, she inhabits girlish innocence, weary gravitas, and even a dash of deviousness. ‘Warplane’, the almighty anthem of the album, demonstrates this best: Heartworms’ prophetic whispers gradually build, reaching an operatic cry in the chorus. And yet, among the various facades, Heartworms maintains a genuine rawness that pulls you in each time.
Perhaps that’s also down to the Cheltenham native’s idiosyncratic lyricism, which feels exposed without giving away too much. The grungy ‘Smuggler’s Adventure’ descends into a toxic concoction of isolation, hopelessness and hypervigilance, as Heartworms narrates memories from a tumultuous childhood: “Head straight to a war / That’s just how I feel”. The title track closes the album with an unsettling moment of intimacy. Over an unexpected acoustic guitar, Heartworms repeats the plea she began the album with: “All I want to do is dance, dance, dance…”
It is rare to see artists come bolting out the gate with such a strong identity, but here is someone who knows exactly who they are, what they want, and still daring to achieve more. It’s no surprise Heartworms has taken off in recent years, but ‘Glutton For Punishment’ proves she can stick the landing.
