Emily Hearn is an example of an artist who found herself in a sea of doubt and a love of music, and was just driven enough to get up and try again. Her latest EP, Promises, speaks worlds about her as a musician, and is an auditory representation of how much she’s matured since Paper Heart (2010) and Red Balloon (2012), respectively.
The first track on this album is a classic for anyone familiar with country-inspired pop tunes. “Gotta Have Him” is fun and witty, introducing the release with childlike innocence and that honeymoon high at the start of a relationship.
From here, Promises follows a pattern of getting progressively less bright and energetic almost too quickly. “Darlin’” for the most part is cut from the same cloth stylistically, but the pace of the tempo slows too greatly to make a fluid transition, especially given the next few tracks, “Makes Us Stronger” and “Found A Heart,” that swing into almost ballad territory.
Through the music, the listener gets to experience every facet of a relationship, from the giddy beginnings to uncertainty, heartbreak, and resolution. What really brings the release home, however, is the brilliant arrangement of various instruments that complement Hearn’s voice and illuminate the EP, something that she’s proven fairly good at in the past.
Promises is a new stretch for Hearn, written with much more depth and subtlety than before, and with a voice like hers to match, it’s no question how the EP will impact the listener. Emily Hearn has surely reached a new high as an artist, and this is a prime example of how the work a musician produces is greatly affected by time and life experience.
In A Word: Engaging
