Ahead of its release tomorrow, Georgie Thorogood reviews the new album from Lindsay Ell – heart theory. In the review, she reveals her standout moments and why this is a step forward sonically for Lindsay.
New album release ‘heart theory’ by Lindsay Ell demonstrates a cleverly chosen selection of 12 songs, working their way through the stages of grief and out the other side. Produced by superstar producer Dann Huff, the album is quite heavily produced, perhaps leaving the vocals a little under-exposed. As expected from such a guitar playing artist, the guitar is featured strongly throughout most of the tracks and it remains true to her roots in this respect.
Only one of the songs on the album has been written without an input from Ell (i don’t lovE you). Throughout the selection, she has employed some fairly high achieving co-writers such as Matt McGinn, Kane Brown and Brandy Clark. The song titles contain randomly capitalised letters to spell out the album title (it’s not just dodgy proof-reading!), a quirky touch and another talking point.
Kicking off with ‘Hits me’ a fun retro feel, reminiscent of the late 80s/early 90s. It’s difficult to resist the urge to move to the song with its upbeat tempo. The lyrics are relatable, you forget for a moment about the heartache, then it hits you again – everyone’s been there – and it makes a great start to the album.
‘how good’ is next up and it starts with a funky bass guitar beat. An atmospheric pause results in a panicked check of the player, but then vocals ramp up to next level for chorus. The latter part of the song highlights Lindsay’s vocal range which is great to hear.
The only song without Lindsay Ell on the writing credits is ‘i don’t lovE you’. Reminiscent of fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne, this previously released track has been streamed 2.7 million times so far and is definitely going to remain a hit for sometime to come. Although not written by Ell, there is no shortage of songwriting talent on this track, co-written by Adam Hambrick (Dan & Shay/Justin Moore), John Mark McMillan, Melissa Fuller (Russell Dickerson, Christina Perri, LANCO), Neil Medley (Luke Bryan, Kid Rock, Tyler Farr w/ Jason Aldean, Jake Owen).
The more recognisably country song ‘wAnt me back’ seems to be in same vein as ‘how good’ with low key vocals building up to a big chorus. The strong lyrics ‘If I were you I’d want me back too’ are again relatable as a particular stage of the healing process after a break-up and it contributes to a stronger bond with the listener. Released June 26th 2020, this has been co-written with Kane Brown amongst others. Matt McGinn’s influence seems strong on the writing side, and it’s likely this will be another hit.
‘get oveR you’ is another with a really catchy beat, making you want to move. The chorus throws a slight curve ball by using a minor chord to divert the tune from where the listener expects it to go. A really strong song and it sees the return of the rockier edge that is easily identifiable as Ell’s more signature sound.
The shortest song on the album at only 2mins 36 seconds, ‘wrong girl’ seems to be almost a Gwen Stefani-esque version of ‘Wrong Song’ from the TV show, Nashville. It’s nicely angry and is a bit of an ear worm! ‘body language of a breakup’ is a very easy to listen to song, but perhaps more of a filler to lead onto the more chilled out ‘good on you’ than a single.
‘good on you’ and ‘The oTHEr side’ both carry a soulful, jazz-like, almost R & B, beat. ‘The Other Side’ could easily have been included in an early Christina Aguilera album, both great songs which are positioned really well in the album, giving a positive outlook.
The opening bars and carrying beat of the more country-esque ‘gO to’ is reminiscent of the Luke Combs hit, ‘Beer Never Broke My Heart’. It’s fairly heavily produced, but it’s commercial and it would be no surprise to see this make an appearance as a single.
Providing a marked contrast, ‘make you’ comes next. It’s the longest song on the album at 4mins 18 seconds, also the slowest and less heavily produced. Great song, great vocals, one of the best on the album. Emotive story-telling gains the investment of the listener and it’s deliberately reined in when it could have developed into a bigger song, which is really effective in keeping the emotion of the piece. Co-written with Brandy Clark, this is definitely a standout track.
The album finale is ‘ReadY to love’ which was released on 24th July. It’s strong and forward thinking, and distinctly a pop-crossover, commercial single.
All in all, there is an awesome R&B, forward thinking (yet somehow retro sounding) vibe across the whole album. There are lots of good tracks, a few great ones, but the standout is probably ‘Make You’, primarily because it highlights Lindsay’s vocal talents which, in my opinion, are slightly overshadowed by production elsewhere. There doesn’t seem to be a fall-down track and commercially it’s easy to see this being a high charting album overall. It’s a pleasure to listen to and keeps you wanting more.
