Haerts

Known for their atmospheric electronic pop, Brooklyn’s Haerts have a sound that straddles the line between the icy synth work of Berlin and the sophisticated, rootsy adult contemporary of Fleetwood Mac. Buoyed by their breakthrough single “Wings,” the group garnered critical acclaim with their 2014 debut, Haerts. They have continued to develop their approach, releasing 2018′s New Compassion and 2021′s Dream Nation.
The long-distance collaborative project formed when childhood friends Nini Fabi and Ben Gebert started working on music together in a small apartment in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. Fabi had lived in Germany for a good portion of her life and met German native Gebert there when they were both on the same swim team as kids. The two set out for New York in 2010 and slowly accrued other bandmates in friends and like-minded artists stationed all over the globe, including Garrett Ienner, Derek McWilliams, and Jonathan Schmidt.
Working internationally, the musicians sent files back and forth, toiling on their tracks and eventually sculpting an indie electro sound brightened by Fabi’s Stevie Nicks-channeling vocals. In the fall of 2012, they debuted their track “Wings” online to great response. A year later, the St. Lucia-produced Hemiplegia EP was released on Columbia Records. In 2014, they returned with their debut full-length, the eponymous Haerts, featuring the single “Wings.”
After touring in support of the album, including a stop at the Coachella music festival in April 2015, the band reappeared in early 2016 with three new songs that they provided for an experimental short film by San Diego filmmaker Julian Klincewicz titled Power/Land. In 2018, Haerts issued their sophomore full-length, New Compassion. Their third album, Dream Nation, arrived in 2021 and featured a guest appearance by Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste. ~ Fred Thomas