Kansas native Taylor Holenbeck has been a supporting player in bands including Appleseed Cast, Hospital Ships, and Des Ark, and he also helms a project of his own called Heartscape Landbreak from his home base of Durham, North Carolina. The band’s new album The Remedy — which, as far as I know, has nothing to do with that one Jason Mraz song — features contributions from a wide cast of characters including Thor Harris, Hospital Ships’ Jason Geiger, Des Ark’s Kevin Broderick, and many more. It’s an ambitious collection of songs, the sound of gritty DIY musicians stretching toward transcendence.

Lead single “A Heart Full Of Light,” out today, begins quietly with just guitar and a vocal melody that reminds me of Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug. Soon enough it explodes into an urgent swirl of post-hardcore drums and guitars, Holenbeck yelping atop the chaos as if attempting not to be swallowed up entirely. At one point, the beat drops out, and he laments, “I was once a younger man/ My heart was once full of light.”

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “The Howl Of The World”
02 “The Remedy”
03 “Now When It Rains”
04 “The Ocean’s Wide Grin”
05 “A Heart Full Of Light”
06 “Eos, Bringer Of The Dawn”
07 “Alex”
08 “Resentment Teeth”

The Remedy is out 3/8 on Cosmic Dreamer Music. Pre-order it here.