The title of Roy Decarava’s magnum opus The Sound I Saw is an apt metaphor for describing the music of Lights & Motion’s Save Your Heart. Christoffer Franzen of Lights & Motion can see sound and wants his listeners to see it as well in the expansive hues and brush strokes that broadly define Save Your Heart.  Franzen expertly plays all of the instruments and is accompanied on a number of tracks by Linnea Herlogssen whose gentle vocals are like lengthening shadows among the sonic contours. This is his second album this year with the first, Reanimation, hailed as one of the best cinematic post-rock debut records in the history of the genre. Personally, I am more drawn to Save Your Heart because it feels less urgent as guitars play a lesser role and more reflective almost to the point of loneliness as there is a thickness between the notes and movements.

The trouble with trying to review cinematic post-rock (or transcendental neo-classical euphoric rock or whatever labels are being bandied about these days) is that all the good metaphors have been used (except for gossamer potentially, but I digress), AND the nature of the music itself is meant to be engaged with the heart and not just the head. Save Your Heart is transcendent and evocative of broader horizons. I felt as if I were standing out in the open as the light is beginning to fade just on the cusp of twilight where the tones are beginning to soften and bleed together. It is this progressive series of moments that evolve into sound triggering emotion and feeling. Simply stated this is a stunning and triumphant record from start to finish.

The ebb and flow of the Save Your Heart is brilliantly orchestrated as evidenced by its delicate opening with “Heartbeats” which progresses gently to a full crescendo before winding back down seamlessly into “Ultraviolet.” There is so much more that I could say, but any further musings from me on this record are truly unnecessary. Forego any further reading about Save Your Heart and take the time to sit and listen to it all the way through without distraction preferably in a place where you can see the effects of the changing of the light at day’s end. This will provide the perfect context in which to be able to see the sound.

– November 14th, 2013 – Cameron Barham