Wildbirds & Peacedrums: Heartcore

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the musical bricolage

From Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme to the Captain & Tennille to Mates of State, married couples have been taking their wedded bliss to the stage as musical duos. Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin aren’t letting the fact that he’s primarily a drummer and she’s strictly a singer get in the way of working without other partners. On their debut, Werliin pounds his drum kit, strums an electric guitar like an autoharp, chimes on toy xylophone, and even unearths the strange beauty of what sounds like a couple of Balinese gamelan instruments. Meanwhile, Wallentin—mostly oblivious to her husband’s accompaniment—whispers, coos, chants, and sometimes just plain sings evocative, if oddball, lyrics. Occasional overdubs provide slightly fuller backing, and especially enchant when Wallentin’s lonely soprano divides into multiple overlapping parts. It’s all a bit art-school precious, but it sticks in the brain more than you’d expect.