VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), the leader in high-fidelity audio reissues, is proud to release Chris Isaak’s 1989 double-platinum masterpiece, Heart Shaped World, in definitive audiophile sound on July 10.
Sourced from the original master tapes, these exceptional reissues expose the striking inner details, saturated tones, and brilliant atmospherics of the crisp production, bringing listeners up close and personal with Isaak’s spectacular singing on the strictly limited, numbered-edition UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set (order HERE) and numbered-edition Hybrid SACD (order HERE).
There was nothing in contemporary music like Heart Shaped World when it hit shelves in June 1989. While the blockbuster initially stalled in the lower quadrants of the Billboard charts, it was transformed into a multi-platinum phenomenon after director David Lynch hand-picked two tracks from the album for his 1990 film Wild at Heart.
An Atlanta radio music director heard the instrumental version on the soundtrack, began airing the album rendition at all hours, and, aided by a sensual video featuring supermodel Helena Christensen, propelled the haunting track “Wicked Game” into a Top 10 smash and global cultural touchstone. More than three decades later, the record remains a masterful mood piece that invites listeners to pour a late-night drink, sit in a dimmed room, and relish Isaak’s elegant, raw ruminations on love and desire.
The UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set is mastered from the 1/2” / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to an analog console to the lathe, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies. While Isaak’s steady baritone remains the anchor, the contributions of his trusty backing band, Silvertone, come across with cool command and realism. The indispensable playing of guitarist James Calvin Wilsey emerges with superb clarity and dimensionality. Experienced on UltraDisc One-Step with ultra-black backgrounds and a nearly invisible noise floor, Heart Shaped World is a true demonstration disc.
Despite its vintage vibes and shared DNA with legends such as Roy Orbison, Chet Baker, and Glen Campbell, Heart Shaped World transcends nostalgia, rockabilly, and throwback tropes. For all the melodrama and sadness at hand, Isaak’s gorgeously transparent singing dives deep underneath emotional surfaces. Listeners can hear it in his quivering falsetto, and the slow, methodical ways he allows delicate whispers to break into shadowy phrasing that crosses over to the darker sides of romance. This approach bolsters the title track, which suggests calm yet moves on ominous currents, its simmering pace and snare-drum snappiness foreshadowing Isaak raising the volume and urgency during the coda.
The premium packaging of the UltraDisc One-Step pressing befits its elevated status, housed in a deluxe slipcase featuring foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. The cover art depicts a lost-in-thought Isaak staring ahead and sitting in what appears to be an efficiency apartment, epitomizing the record’s lonesome temperaments and pensive themes. The Hybrid SACD edition is elegantly housed in a mini-LP-style gatefold package complete with a fold-out insert. Listeners should note that for both configurations of this reissue, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab utilized the shorter 4:38 version of “In the Heat of the Jungle” originally included on original vinyl copies, which was supplied directly by the label.
