The Black Heart Procession specializes in bleak songs for the broken-hearted.Pall A Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel (former collaborators in Three Mile Pilot)delight in confounding audiences with lighthearted stage pranks, but they out-gloomNick Cave whenever they put pen to paper. And the vein of crestfallen Gothicromanticism that spanned the group's first three records definitely spillsover onto its latest full-length, a quasi-concept album built around a murdermystery. Past Black Heart Procession efforts have concentrated squarely on warpedcabaret rhythms `a la Kurt Weill, but Amore del Tropico finds Jenkinsand Nathaniel dipping their fingers into divergent musical pools. Half of thetracks feature female backing vocals and/or string arrangements, while "Tropicsof Love" effortlessly melds Brazilian tropicalia with Bernard Herrmannfilm soundtracks. And "Fingerprints"-with its forward-thinking/backwards-soundingpiano-percussion arrangement-is one of the coolest things heard from thisperpetually inventive group.