On her sixth album Forever, Lilly Hiatt navigates a new stage in her life with honesty, directness and a healthy dose of rock 'n' roll guitars.
The album was recorded with her husband Coley Hinson at home, where the pair took an off-the-cuff and immediate approach to recording. The resulting sound leans into '90s alt-rock more than her previous releases, although some twang and country guitars do make appearances.
In a recent interview, Hiatt mentioned British group Lush. On the final song of the album, "Thoughts," Hiatt namechecks The Sundays. And Forever's producer Paul Kolderie is known for his work with groups like The Pixies, Throwing Muses and Juliana Hatfield. All these groups are touchpoints for the album's sound.
She wrote the songs following a period of struggling with the latest phase of her life.
“I fell in love, got married, adopted a dog, all the things I’d always dreamed of doing,” she reflected. “But I felt like an outsider watching myself stumble though it all, just constantly critiquing myself to the point where I became so paralyzed I could hardly leave home.”
Hiatt and Hinson decided to move out of the city, scrap all the music they had recorded up to that point, and start fresh on the songs that make up Forever.
The power-pop of "Evelyn's House" captures the mundaneness of life at home with lyrics like, "Your khaki shorts are on the chair, I've got on new underwear." The song is an acknowledgement that anxieties and fears may always be present, but it's better to face them than to run away.
With "Ghost Ship," Hiatt fights the urge to isolate when struggling. It's a reminder that other people are also asking questions and seeking something more in life.
Throughout the album, she comes back to the strength and security she draws from being in a healthy relationship. Nowhere more apparent than on "Man," the one country ballad on the album. Like much of the album, the song showcases Hiatt's ability to pair a good story with an earworm chorus.
Fans of her dad John Hiatt's music will know skill runs in the family, and the album closes with a touching recording of a voicemail he left for her.
Must listens
- "Shouldn't Be"
- "Ghost Ship"
- "Evelyn's House"
- "Man"
- "Kwik-E-Mart"
- "Forever"