Shawn Hewitt 'Spare Hearts' album

Imagine for a moment, if all your love, courage, will and compassion became scattered fragments of a heart once mighty. With his debut full-length release, Scarborough, Ontario native, Shawn Hewitt, has crafted 11 songs to define the pieces and replace the once bruised and broken heart. Spare Hearts, recorded by Dave Newfeld (Broken Social Scene) and Stephen Murray with Malik Worthy was mixed at Electric Lady in New York City by John O'Mahoney (Coldplay). "Making this album was an intense renewal process for me and my song-writing method," explains Hewitt, "It's like the facade of a historic building was kept while the inside was gutted, making it fresh and new on the inside while the outside was kept as a gateway to the future."

Spare Hearts is rooted in exploring human relationships, blurring the lines between pop culture and art. The track "Keep them at Bay" for example, is an inspired narrative about politicians and the sacrifices they make for their loved ones. It's about protecting love from harm. "This song is dear to me as it's the first one I wrote for this record. It represents the beginning of the process where you feel like you can conquer anything and anyone. The bookend to this song is "Hollow the Leader," says Hewitt. "The song is a call to arms that reprise the theme of conquering those that stand in the way of destiny. Where ?Keep Them at Bay" challenges, "Hollow the Leader" fulfills" says Hewitt. The record?s emotional centerpiece, the title-track, "Spare Hearts", soars with guitars and lush strings that provide the bedrock for this epic track of yearning for a restoration of a tarnished heart.

Hewitt is an artist with great rhythmic sensibility and a natural knack for musical dynamics; Spare Hearts is a journey through theatrical pop music, showcasing Hewitt's distinct emotional vocal delivery, which has been described as Rufus Wainwright with Stevie Wonder aspirations, though drawing influences as diverse as Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Radiohead.

Hewitt was raised in a family where music had a constant presence. "Music was the cornerstone of my household because it echoed the emotions that bonded us together," he explains. Introduced to music by an inquisitive mind, Hewitt began writing songs and performing in local open stage events 2002, quickly replaced by sold out venues. "This journey has grown new wings to soar higher than it ever has before and these songs represent the change I went through to grow these wings".

Hewitt was awarded the ?Fan's Choice Award? at the 2004 NXNE Music Festival & Conference in Toronto, resulting in major industry and media excitement in his hometown. Glowing reviews of both his recorded music and his live performances quickly followed. "Performing for an audience is where I feel most alive, it's where the songs get to show their teeth." Hewitt quickly gained support from musicians and media circles with the release of his 2005 EP, The Soft Society, on SCH Music/Universal Canada.

Spare Hearts is an album inspired by love and passion, which will instill the very same in each listener. For Hewitt, this is true beauty, the purpose of which music is made and why we listen.

press quotes
"Hewitt is a peculiar genre-hopping master of Afro-Kraut, the odd yet delicious fusion of Afro-Beat and Krautrock. This is a phenomenal record created by a monumental artist"- Chart Attack

"If you can imagine Donny Hathaway singing on Can's Ege Bamyasi you'll have some idea of where Hewitt and crew began with The Soft Society". - NOW TORONTO

"Equal parts Stevie Wonder-smooth and Thom Yorke-twitchy, it proffers intimate narratives that simmer with sarcasm and suspicion" - EYE

"The combination of Hewitt's soaring yowls and guitarist Jones' sometimes funky, sometimes scrabbling riffs and uberproducer Ian Blurton's crisp, uncluttered production make for an intense, darkly beautiful listen. It's the celebrated Krautrock/indie rock summit conference Kid A was supposed to be" - Exclaim!

"Hewitt's deliberate, elegant, often quite Radiohead-ish compositions deftly juggles adventurousness and accessibility, confirming that the buzz around his Rhodes-powered live shows"-Toronto Star

"Hewitt, a young singer and writer based in Toronto, confronts this daily devilry with a clear vulnerable tenor and an attenuated melodic style that at times sounds as if he has absorbed the spirit of Gregorian chant into soul music."- Globe and Mail

"The singer Shawn Hewitts lyricism, the musings about living about your own terms are sublte but powerful, not only in his lyrics but the accompanying music that seems to swell and subside with every lyrical nuance"- AfroToronto

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Shawn Hewitt - Spare Hearts