A fine fantasy

There’s no denying the sharp brain that sits inside the head of Owen Pallett. For some time now the Canadian has been the go-to boffin for anyone who wants to adorn their music with alt.rock orchestral strings, swings and roundabouts. (Already, he has done sterling work for Arcade Fire, Last Shadow Puppets and Beirut, with more on the way for Pet Shop Boys and Mika.)

Pallett is now operating under his name, rather than his previous soubriquet of Final Fantasy

(some legal bother regarding trademark infringement), Heartlandinevitably comes across as a more personalised work. It's still as curious as Benjamin Button, though.

Heartlandis a concept album about a fictional character (a farmer called Lewis) who is in love with a deity (called Owen). What starts off as a simple love story finishes as an act of insanity and violence (disembowelment, seeing as you're asking).

Of course, one can ignore the concept and instead concentrate on the music, which marries compositional ideas from dance and techno, with sweeping string lines and tricky loops. It’s all very clever, but Pallett avoids overt pretentiousness by grounding his ideas in the sort of pop nous and accessibility that his clients have in abundance.

Songs such as Midnight Directives, The Great Elsewhere, Tryst with Mephistophelesand What Do You Think Will Happen Next?drive the narrative forward. However, Pallett's quite lovely vocals, splashes of melody that equal the work of Brian Wilson and Neil Hannon, and his string-driven thing ensure that it's the aural atmosphere, and not just the words, complete the tale. www.owenpalletteternal. com

Download tracks: The Great Elsewhere, Tryst with Mephistopheles, What Do You Think Will Happen Next?