Owen Pallett, formerly known as Final Fantasy, has created an entire world where he narrates an epic tale of philosophy in this album.

It tells the story of Lewis, a farmer from birth, who comes to worship a god named Owen. Owen is the writer of the story, and therefore also the singer. Several events occur in between, but eventually Lewis discovers that Owen is unjust and turns on him.

What is produced is a thought-provoking narrative that necessitates a few times listened and a few times heard, but it won’t feel like a burden. His lyrics are those of a master author, and when they can be shown off with Pallett’s unique voice and compositions, it makes for some interesting songs.

Many people may be offset by the difficulty of hearing Pallet’s lyrics and general oddness of his album, but it holds a feeling of the music one heard when playing those fantastical video games on a handheld. No, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t 8-bit music that gets annoyingly stuck in your head, rather, Pallet plays the violin as he sings, a peculiar combination, but somehow he makes it work. The music itself is an adventure, making anyone who listens take a journey to the foreign world Pallett describes.

But whether your want to scour the lyrics and discover the dense plot line, or just sit back and become absorbed in the melody, there is something to be found in his music that you can enjoy. Perhaps you will even spend hours thinking solely about the themes as Lewis discovers himself in the satisfying ending.

And so Owen Pallet’s genius is expressed in Heartland, just a story about a farmer.