Coming four years after her last record, Forever is Lilly Hiatt’s strongest blend yet of alt-rock guitars with Americana sensibilities. You can hear it in the chugging chords on the album opener “Hidden Day,” a stellar driving song that foreshadows what’s to come. Forever is an ambitiously experimental record that’s still anchored by Hiatt’s strong, relatable songwriting but with a bit more aggressive push to it.
The catchy “Shouldn’t Be” carries the vibe even further. It’s not until “Evelyn’s House,” halfway into the record, that Hiatt starts to sound more like her last few records. The embrace of the more experimental college rock sound pairs nicely with her relatable, strong Americana/singer-songwriter background. The title track is probably her best blending of both genres.
The album was written during what would appear to be a great time for Lilly – she was in love, had just gotten married, adopted a dog – but she was struggling emotionally. She turned to therapy, antidepressants, and songwriting. “There was this intensity where I felt so jacked up all the time,” she explains. “Eventually I just realized that my life was passing me by, that the love I was living in required presence to accept. So, I started doing the little things you have to do to show up for the people in your life: listen, grow, change. I learned to expand my world.”
Hiatt left Nashville for the sticks, scrapped the growing pile of songs she had been working on, and started fresh. Produced by her husband – fellow musician Coley Hinson – and mixed by Paul Q. Kolderie – whose past work with bands like Radiohead, the Pixies and Hole, among others – made him ideal for the more muscular-sounding Forever, the resulting collection is excellent. The 9-song record is certainly Hiatt’s most ambitious body of work to date and one of her best albums yet. The music is strong, confident and personal without being too earnest. And while she expands her sound and influences quite a bit on this one, it is still every bit a Lilly Hiatt album.
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I like her voice but the music is overpowering her singing!