Heart Head West

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Already known to some for acting roles such as Tracy in Noah Baumbach's Mistress America (2015) and Hailey on Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle (2014-2018), actress Lola Kirke makes her full-length recording debut with 2018's Heart Head West. Focusing on a blend of classic country-rock, dreamy noir-pop, and timeless torch song, the album's hazy reverb seems to cradle Kirke's natural, smoky vocal delivery throughout. Heart Head West was produced by Wyndham Boylan-Garnett (Elvis Perkins in Dearland) and follows through on a sound they established on a self-titled EP two years earlier. As the daughter of one-time Free and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke, the fact that Lola grew up on classic rock and Laurel Canyon LPs and cites Gram Parsons as a primary influence won't come as a surprise after hearing the album, though it's equally inflected with a contemporary production sound. Midtempo opener "Monster" sets the stage with layers of strummed and slide guitar, and organ. The chorus' half-yodeled melody pleads "I'm not a monster, just someone who wants to belong." Elsewhere, she mixes things up with brisker tempos ("Supposed To," "Turn Away Your Heart") and tracks with fiddle and country walking bass, but the album remains reclined on a chaise lounge, longing for a person or place to call home. After nine original songs, she closes with a sultry cover of the posthumously released Jim Ford tune "Point of No Return." It's a solid debut, both in terms of its songwriting and textures, with no "for an actress" qualifier warranted. ~ Marcy Donelson