His superb, spectral orchestral arrangements (for Arcade Fire, the Last Shadow Puppets and Pet Shop Boys) alone mean that Owen Pallett is a musician to be reckoned with. Yet the Canadian, latterly Final Fantasy, but now bearing his own name, is also a songwriter of rare complexity and ambition. His latest album updates the fantasy world of Spectrum, which he last visited on 2008's 14th Century EP, with the insane, psychotic farmer Lewis here sharing disc space with a godlike character named Owen. Lewis Takes Action, pocked by pizzicato, flute and bassoon, is typical of Pallett's approach: a languid Beach Boys croon delivers a narrative about wanton violence, as woodwind clamours discordantly and ominously. Heartland is mad and sometimes overblown, but it has the feel of a masterpiece.
Domino WIGCD252