Heart Will Jump (With Nowhere To Fall), The

INDIE ROCK / FEMALE SINGER-SONGWRITER

Hillary Susz is an independent songwriter and guitarist based in Boulder, CO. I didn’t care for her singing voice on my first listen, but by my third this album had really grown on me. The strength of these songs is in the evocative, image laden, and emotional lyrics (mostly about quirky or difficult lesbian love affairs).

FCC issues in tracks 6 & 7

1 * Slow. Gentle guitar to start, then synth, strings. A pretty, graceful song. Lyrics describe toxic but obsessive relationship. (5:12)
2 Sounds of water splashing on a shore and a train (steam & clanging bell) passing. (0:48)
3 *** Very slow. Gorgeous, moving love song. Quite spare, focused on the lyric. (3:20)
4 * Slow, then faster. Shifts gears. Ballad of an unusual third-wheel girlfriend. (6:43)
5 Slow, then faster. Solo acoustic guitar & vox folksong first half. Rock band second half. Describes her reactions to (apparently) a break-up letter from a lover. (4:26)
6 (FCC: “WTF”) Slow, then mid. More of that break up. Dark, bleak, but powerful. (3:03)
7 (FCC: “MF”) Mid-fast. Hilarious put-down of an egotistical (male) player. (3:56)
8 More train sounds, this time with the whistle and the breaks, but without water. (1:15)
9 ** Mid-slow. Emotional title track about unrequited desire. Deep, low voice. (5:48)
10 ** Very slow. Astonishing, passionate lyrics full of symbols & imagery. Perhaps this relationship goes 2 ways, maybe not; it’s hard to tell. Somber strings. (6:10)
11 VERY slow. Sparse. Tragic, heartbroken; too much so unless you’re in the mood. (4:31)