Heartworms - Glutton For Punishment

Speedy Wunderground

Heartworms, aka Jojo Orme, is more than another post-punk singer-songwriter. Combining her love of poetry and gothic history, her debut album ‘Glutton for Punishment’ is a malevolent look at modern life, splicing together sonic styles that make you want to dance through the darkness.

From the rumbling 40-second opener ‘In The Beginning’, the album ominously whirrs into life with ‘Just To Ask A Dance’, combining almost tribal drumming, thrash guitar, and dark 80s synth-pop that sets up the broadened palette that Jojo pulls from on this opening Heartworms chapter. Her vocal style across the record is reminiscent of some of the best alt-pop singers of recent years – see Sharon van Etten, PJ Harvey - travelling through near-spoken word to soaring falsetto, all the while conveying an achingly realistic analysis of obsession, connection, and anxiety.

‘Glutton for Punishment’ is in some ways deeply nostalgic whilst also being on the cutting edge of the post-punk-slash-goth-pop fringes, making it excitingly impossible to narrow down to one genre or label. ‘Smugglers Adventure’, an account of familial disconnect, is eminently folk-driven, whilst ‘Jacked’ is a return to the crunchy, grimy guitar and impish charm that made Heartworms’ debut EP, ‘A Comforting Notion’, such an electric start.

Elsewhere, Kate Bush-esque experimentalism is placed alongside lyrics about the madness of online dating in ‘Mad Catch’, whilst Jojo’s fascination with warplanes and the human need for conflict in ‘Warplane’ and ‘Extraordinary Wings’ root the album with a timeless anti-war message that draws you back to 70s folk-rock protest songs via 90s-adjacent trip-hop and deep house beats.

‘Glutton for Punishment’ is a debut album that firmly places Heartworms in a league of her own, leaving enough room for her passion and talent to grow as the project evolves. As starts go, this is a very, very good one.