It seems destined to be Sally Seltmann’s fate that every story that mentions her will always begin with the fact that she co-wrote Feist’s smash hit “1234.” And so it goes with this review.

Seltman, formerly known as the band New Buffalo, is perhaps now recording under her name because the success of “1234” has given her a renewed confidence to step out and record under her own name. That at least is her explanation, and it’s plausible enough. Less plausible—and also offered as a reason for dropping the band name—is that people were confusing her band with the city of New Buffalo, Michigan (this risk of place/band confusion apparently didn’t deter Boston). More likely, it’s because if people know her at all, it’s as the person who helped write “1234”—the songwriting credits read Feist; Seltmann, not Feist; New Buffalo.

Having made the inevitable Feist-Seltmann connection, the question almost invites itself: is any song on this album as good as “1234”? The disappointing answer is that none of the sounds on Heart match up to “1234”’s show-stopping brilliance or mix of goofiness and sheer dance-ability. The even more disappointing truth is that none of the songs on this album even aspire to the greatness of Feist’s best. This album aims to be sweet and sunny, and to its credit, it succeeds on that level. If Seltmann doesn’t set her sights very high, the pleasures her album gives are nonetheless real.

The lead-off track, “Harmony To My Heartbeat” is yet another entry into the catalog of songs that make the beat-of-my-heart-beat-of-a-drum analogy: it’s clappy and happy and probably forgettable. More powerful, although still firmly on the sunny-side is the title track, “Heart That’s Pounding,” which, true to its title, has a pounding beat and builds to a satisfying chorus—although the rhymes are sometimes cringe-inducing (“heart pounding” sensibly goes to “beat that’s sounding” and then rather desperately to “leap that’s bounding”).

A few other songs break through the blurry haze of smile-and-feel-good songs. “On the borderline,” which, hard to believe, Seltmann says she originally wrote for Cyndi Lauper, but kept for herself. We should be grateful. It’s not a bad song, and certainly would have been a very different tune had Lauper sung it. “The Truth” dares to put some nice 80s-sounding reverberating keyboards at its center, and the move pays off. “Dark Blue Angel” sounds like an outtake from the Cowboy Junkies’ Trinity Sessions. It’s not as good as anything on that album, but one can almost appreciate the unintentional homage. Finally, “5 Stars” is a winsomely beautiful song about trying to understand who you are, failing, and giving yourself credit (5 stars) for trying. It belongs on a movie soundtrack, to be played as the final credits roll as we reflect on all we and the characters have learned.

Sadly, much of the album is made up of filler. There’s too much space between the good bits, and the good bits, well, aren’t that great. Sadly, this album won’t make people forget that Sally Seltmann’s biggest claim to fame is that she co-wrote one of the bigger hits of the last decade. More people should know this, and they probably would if Seltmann had insisted that “1234” keep its original title: “Sally’s Song.”

Track List:
1. Harmony To My Heartbeat
2. Set Me Free
3. On The Borderline
4. Book Song
5. Dream About Changing
6. Heart That‘s Pounding
7. I Tossed A Coin
8. Happy
9. The Truth
10. Sentimental Seeker
11. 5 Stars
12 Dark Blue Angel