ADAM LEVY

The Heart Collector

adamlevy.com

In Adam Levy’s hands, even murder ballads make for warm, easy listening. On the title track, he describes in suspicious detail a serial killer’s exploits. Levy’s narrator might be the guilty party, or in a metaphorical sense, he might just sympathize with the “cardiophile” and his hunger for human hearts. Either way, it’s a rare moment of darkness from this former Norah Jones guitarist. Levy specializes in genial acoustic folk-pop, and on highlights “This Is the Sound” and “Promised Land”—both about the joys of making music—he’s more concerned with telling good stories than crafting tidy rhymes or choruses. If his melodies don’t bore into the brain, he leaves his mark in subtler ways.