Heavy Flowers

Blaudzun is Danish musician Johannes Sigmond, who, over the course of three albums in five years, has morphed from a fairly straight-ahead singer/songwriter into an artist who goes to deep, dark places for breathtaking emotional and musical textures. His U.S. debut, Heavy Flowers, is painted in bold, lush strokes with a delicate touch. "Flame on My Head" opens with a slow fuse. A quiet thrum of acoustic guitar, hissing percussion, and gurgling keys give way to a thudding tom and Sigmond's voice losing its cool. It's brought back down to a simmer by a stark guitar line and handclaps. There's a reason the charming first single, "Elephants," has made waves in Europe: it takes flight on a chorus of see-sawing strings and a sturdy 4/4 backbeat supported by piano and horns as it climbs upward, eventually landing in a dream cloud where teaching elephants to sing isn't only kooky but de rigueur. Accordions, banjo, and mandolin come into play on several tunes, and the lovely, organic orchestrations recall artists like Patrick Watson and Sea Wolf. Gather Heavy Flowers to your bosom; why let European fans have all the fun?