REVIEW: Hymn For Her’s “Pop ‘N Downers” is Perfectly Titled Innovation

Hymn For Her’s Pop‘n Downers, produced by Vance Powell, mastered by Richard Dodd, is the most perfectly titled project you will have encountered in a long time, from its mixture of pop innovation to its genuine and honest, albeit profound and downer, songs.

In a musical world where the competition to be original and innovative is intense, this album really comes out on top this year. For one thing, it’s a foray into pop. And while this has been a year where alt-country/Americana/roots musicians have tackled the pop genre, Hymn For Her has been able to strike a balance between pop elements built on a rock ‘n roll foundation, while eclectic stringed instruments and punctuated vocal arrangements keep them defying categorization.

“Human Condition” is an amazingly insightful song with: “It’s the human condition, there’s always something missing.” “You’re born crying, you live complaining and you die disappointed,” Wayne Waxing sings, as these observations take place over electric guitar riffs and tambourine. “November” is a love story about a difficult relationship marked by time apart.  “Shallow Graves” holds down a funk rhythm while Lucy Tight sings about the safety of people in various settings across the globe, from Nepal to school classrooms: “don’t give up on each other … what’s up ahead is what was behind.”

Throughout the album there’s a mix of stringed instruments — like Tight’s “Lowebowe” cigarbox guitar — with low end electric guitar by Waxing, and poppy rhythms. When you try to sum them up and categorize them, only to realize they defy categorization, the result is a listen to an album that simply commands your attention from start to finish.

For our chat with Hymn For Her, look here: Audiocast with Hymn For Her at Americana Fest 2018 while you get your copy right here: