You’d be forgiven for seeing the stark, black-and-white artwork of ‘Glutton For Punishment’ and assuming it contains a much gnarlier or darker set of music than it does. Its provocative title echoes industrial music’s aesthetic obsession with BDSM imagery; the kind of phrase Depeche Mode or Nine Inch Nails would have utilised back in the mid-1990s.

‘Glutton For Punishment’ is painted in dark hues, but its electro, industrial and post-punk blend is an impressively vibrant and straight-up fun listening experience, rife with kinetic rhythms and strong choruses that worm their way into your brain once they’ve conquered your heart. On her impressive debut, Heartworms (real name: Jojo Orme) unveils a seemingly effortless knack for making jet-black music that explodes in vibrant colour across your frontal cortex.

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Produced by the in-demand Dan Carey (Fontaines D.C., Squid, Wet Leg), ‘Glutton For Punishment’ is a proper auteurist collection – nine tracks that revel in and unpick its creators’ myriad obsessions, both aesthetic and psychological. Along with the goth-tinged genre blending, Orme’s interest in military history rears its head on imagistic highlights ‘Warplane’ and ‘Extraordinary Wings’, while explorations of a fractured relationship with her mother appear on the engrossing ‘Smuggler’s Adventure’.

However, for all the intriguing and enigmatic lyricism, it’s Orme’ musical craft that really stands out. No two tracks on ‘Glutton For Punishment’ sound alike, but are held together by Heartworms’ commitment to an ambitious and successful attempt to juggle differing tones. A track like ‘Jacked’, built around dark techno synths, or ‘Mad Catch’ and its unusual, angular lead guitars, teeter on the edge of abrasion, but are fused to such strong, powerful vocal melodies and danceable grooves that they consistently materialise as gripping, singular goth pop bangers.

The only tiny criticism is that once or twice Heartworms’ palette ventures a little too close to retro eighties post-punk worship; see the guitars and drum machines of ‘Celebrate’ as an example. But other than that minor quibble, this is a seriously strong debut from an artist in total command of her craft, one that’s all the more impressive for so elegantly incorporating eccentric, sometimes abrasive ideas into its unabashedly pop vision.

8/10

Words: Luke Morgan

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