Several suns away, a Coyote—or perhaps a peyote's hallucination—gave us precious and weird gifts: a telescope, a cheat code for love, and… friends? After a long hiatus, we finally have the full album available. With its newest issue, Hiatus Kaiyote shows us they are capable of simpler things without sacrificing beauty. This might be their least baroque release to date, but for this always-experimenting group, it feels like a breath of fresh air.

According to the group, this album is the result of a series of night jams, hanging around in cafes, and sentimental, straightforward writing. While this album wasn't as meticulously planned as their most acclaimed album, "Choose Your Weapon," or the technically complex "Mood Variant," "Love Heart Cheat Code" is highly consistent in both its themes and its music. The album begins with a piano cascade and concludes with saturated electric guitar screams and Nai Palm's electric sounds, yet it feels like a cohesive journey with a clear beginning, development, and end—something I found difficult to perceive in their previous work. Actually, I'm one of those annoying fans who still praises "Choose Your Weapon" at their highest and compares their subsequent work to it. However, I must admit that I find it impossible to finish "Choose Your Weapon" in one sitting; it's too much for my ears. After two or three tracks, everything starts to feel like a mushy soup or, worse, redundant in its unpredictable complexity.

The cohesive element (and sometimes the star of the show) in this latest release is the smart use of synthesizers. This is particularly evident in its shortest song, paradoxically named "Longcat," where it showcases an incredibly smart and intriguing synth orchestra to complement Nai Palm's vocals. In other tracks, it's more nuanced but always present, providing a sense of unity that binds together the virtuosic guitars, pianos, and voices.

Regarding the themes and lyrics, there is a constant parallel between love and the cosmos. The way they express themselves is completely opposite to what one might call "down to earth," yet it's easy to resonate with such themes as they feel so real.

This album might not appeal to veterans of neo-soul, and for some, "Love Heart Cheat Code" by Hiatus Kaiyote may be a disappointing release. However, I believe it serves as the perfect introduction for those unfamiliar with the group or the music style.

Enjoy!

Author: Martín Cacho

Martín is a video game composer, producer and writer from Sonora, México.