Heidi Feek is certainly not what you would expect. The daughter of award-winning duo Joey + Rory, perhaps there is a pre-conception surrounding her image and sound. However, to buy into that would render you mistaken. Heidi Feek is a child of the retro, the vintage, a mysterious hark back to golden days of country music, Americana with a silver edge. Yet even there she does not take the path of the classic country ballad, instead channeling the genre’s melancholy in a far more curiously nostalgic and effervescent manner. ‘The Only’ is a breath of fresh air in the most pleasantly surprising of senses; but it raises as many questions as it does answers. This is not a simple record by any means.
From opener ‘I Like The Way’ the 1960s musical influences are evident, and not so much littered all over the track as leading it by the hand. It’s a sexy sound, retro country rock with a psychedelic edge, Heidi’s at times sultry, at times wailing vocals shrouded in reverb and set low in the mix, so that often it is hard to detect what she’s singing. This just adds to the erotic mystery that surrounds her; ‘One Night With You’ does the same, incorporating a Spanish guitar and beat that give the song a real Latino feel. It conjures images of sun-drenched balconies in tropical countries, beehive hairstyles and cat-eye eyeliner flicks, slow, teasing yet tasteful sex scenes.
The thing about ‘The Only’ is that it’s a record of old romantic Hollywood. ’57 Bel Air’ is so evocative in its imagery, de-saturated shots of California driving, hair blowing in the wind, so catchy and radio-friendly in its articulation, yet absolutely subverting convention. The music and lyrics work together to create a flawless concoction, moving in tandem and sparking the imagination of listeners. It is so deliberate in indicating what you should be imagining, yet also leaves so much up to your own self. ‘Someday Somebody’ could have been lifted straight from a 1960s Hollywood western with its haunting lament, and is open to your own interpretation, causing my brain to almost really hear the clatter of horses’ hooves on the dust and gunshots echoing through the air. The instrumental continues the mood and lets fantasy play out, much like ‘Berlin’. This song takes on a different persona in that it’s much slower and more stripped back, and it’s one of the few that we really feel a deeper message from Heidi. Her delicate, husky voice is full of heartache and regret on this last dance, soft rock instrumentation gently supporting a beautiful minor key melody.
This is traded in for a slightly updated take on the bluesy, soulful sounds of the ’60s on ‘Take It Slow’. The perfect romantic tribute to the end of a relationship, harsher, more psychedelic sounds peep in halfway through for a change-up, where the drums kick in more vehemently before disappearing into nothingness. The title track, ‘The Only’, retains the bluesy beat with more of a rock base, and at first casual listen might not offer anything particularly standout. However, this quickly became one of my favorites from the album after I really listened to the story behind the lyrics. Completely contrasting with the vintage sound, Heidi offers a much more 21st century outlook on life, informing her lover that he’s not the only fish in the sea, he’s not her soulmate, but he’s all she wants right now. Speaking to hoards of young independent women today, Heidi nails the happy medium between traditionalism and playing the field, highlighting the commitment yet acceptance of ending and renewal in a modern world. It is subtly done, and perfectly so. In her extremely understated way, Heidi has said it all without, I suspect, raising a single interjection.
‘Pretty Boy’, again, takes a conflicted view on love. “Ooh, what a pity love’s just a pretty boy” Heidi muses, concluding that it looks good, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. She continues to surprise on her depth and breadth of musical talent and accomplished songwriting, having co-written most of the album with her father, Rory Feek. ‘There Lives A Fool’ is a small exception, but no less brilliant, as it is a Rory Feek/Sara Evans co-write from the late 1990s that Heidi has been singing ever since. As a result, a very different approach has been taken in the production, utilizing the bass as the primary instrument here, the twang in her voice really coming out and illustrating the track. This is a hybrid, channeling the Nashville Sound as much as it brings out an element of soul, decorated with lashings of pedal steel that give the song a really Hawaiian paradise vibe. The cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, too, has been approached rather differently. Much of it consists of a mysterious bass drum that beats out a somewhat marching rhythm and Heidi’s laid-back, cool, collected and classic vocals, making the song barely recognizable at times. Sparse instrumentation surrounds it, psychedelic guitar and organ, letting her version stand out entirely on its own as a work of art.
Despite all of this, however, my favorite track on ‘The Only’ has to be ‘I Didn’t Know About You’. While Heidi’s orchestration of the more serious tracks is excellent, track 10 is so much fun and so exactly in the ‘60s pop vein that you cannot help but dance and sing along to it. I can imagine my mom loving this such is its accuracy to the sound at hand. It’s something of a shame, therefore, that Heidi’s voice is so shrouded in reverb and other effects (to get the sound required) that it sits lower in the mix than much of her contemporaries. Some songs she levels with the music and others, like this, it cowers behind, making the lyrics at times incoherent. I understand why they have done this, but as something who loves the storytelling nature and art of lyrics, I am a little sad at the occasions when they get lost.
Having said that, this is a fantastic album. Not only is it a breath of fresh air, it is a different kind of air entirely that she is breathing, compared to other artists. While the connection to her parents may initially put Heidi in the spotlight, she’ll retain it on her own, and it’ll be to her own merit that people remember such a distinctive voice and sound. Co-producing this album with her father, it shows just what someone can achieve at such a young age, I am thoroughly impressed and have my fingers and toes crossed that the media picks up on her. She deserves to be noticed everywhere she goes.
