Karmin

Heidemann and Noonan both studied at Berklee. Online performance videos helped introduce the duo, but the original recordings had a different job: to make the songwriting memorable after the initial surprise of the delivery had passed.

Brokenhearted, from the 2012 EP Hello, does that particularly well. The verses keep the words moving, while the chorus lets the melody breathe. There is a theatrical streak in the performance, but the emotional situation is plain enough to keep it grounded. The hook feels like a release of pressure built up in the faster lines.

Pulses arrived on Epic in 2014 as Karmin’s full-length debut. I Want It All, produced by Ryan “Rykeyz” Williams, gives the duo a sleek rhythmic setting. The album broadens the space around the voices, making room for different tempos and more elaborate pop production.

The contrast within the duo’s sound is more interesting than a simple label such as pop-rap suggests. A rapid passage might be about rhythm and character, while a held note can change the scale of the song. The arrangements work best when they give both impulses a clear purpose.

Leo Rising followed in 2016 on Karmin Music. Its zodiac framework supplies an organising idea for the track list, and the record gives the duo another setting in which to experiment with mood and vocal character.

Brokenhearted remains a concise introduction because it makes the musical argument without explanation. The technique catches the ear, but the chorus is what makes the technique worth returning to. That balance is the thread running through Karmin’s strongest work.