Album Review: Red & Gold by Hattie Briggs

Album Review:

Red & Gold by Hattie Briggs – Released 6^th April 2015   

Having been fortunate to see Hattie perform live on a couple of occasions and with her 2013 debut EP My Shepherd’s Hut earning her a nomination at last year’s Radio 2 Young Folk Awards, great anticipation comes with release of the Stroud based singer’s debut album.

Three tracks from her EP feature here: opening track Pull Me Down is about resisting life’s pressures to change you; Still With Hope I See relates to having the belief that despite a bleak outlook that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and Share Your Heart is a beautiful, heartfelt ballad about wanting to fall in love but being afraid to accept yourself.

Most recent single A Beautiful Mind, a tribute to folk singer Pete Seeger, suggests that Hattie understands the value of words and honesty in song writing; a theme she carries throughout the album. There is also a cover of Fields Of Gold, echoing the late Eva Cassidy’s version; an obvious influence on Hattie. All the tracks are multi-layered with piano, sweeping strings and guitar adding to the emotional fragility of the lyrics. 

This is not an album which attempts to rewrite the music rulebook and the untrained ear may think her too similar to other female singer-songwriters. It is, however, Hattie’s voice which is as effortless as breathing but as pure as water, that gives authenticity to her songs and sets her apart from the rest. If she continues within this vein she is sure to succeed. Thank you, Hattie, for sharing your heart with us.

Key tracks: Still With Hope I See, A Beautiful Mind, Share Your Heart, Fields Of Gold

 7/10  

Blog Easy, Blog Often or Blog Off? How to write a music blog.

Writing your first blog


Welcome to my first ever blog! I am not a trained writer so if you are still reading this thank you for sticking with me so far.

I have always been interesting in writing but never found a medium for which I could put ideas from pen to paper, or in this case, from fingers to QWERTY keyboard. I have many interests which I could write about but one of my biggest loves is music. The idea of creating a music blog came to me some years ago but never had the time to write one despite having been listening to, thinking about and discussing various songs, artists and music news since I was a child. So a few weeks ago, I spent an afternoon creating a new email address, Twitter and Blogger accounts.

There were three issues which arose from this new venture. Firstly I had to come up with a name for my blog. I mind-mapped all the music related words which I could think of. Staring down at the page of seemingly random ideas, the words leapt off the page like the words of a song: “Heart”, “Sleeve” and “Notes”. I have often turned to songs when I am going through a difficult time and I can also pick up on the emotions of other people. I am also rather traditional in my record purchasing habits; I buy physical copies of albums, and reading the sleeve notes (more on this in a later blog) and, of course I enjoy writing. Therefore, “Heart On My Sleeve Notes” seemed the perfect name. It was a deliberately ambiguous reference to all of these: being able to be honest and true about what I feel and think, whilst referring to album sleeves, and musical and written notes.

The second problem to consider was: what do I write about? I made a list of music related issues, debates and talking points that had been in the media, things I had discussed with friends or things that had just entered my mind. There were many music related issues that I liked but also things that had annoyed me, even angered me. I hope to include some of these topics in this blog.

Thirdly I had to consider: how often should I blog? If I do it too frequently I run the risk of becoming preachy, annoying and, the ultimate sin, an internet troll. Conversely, if I don’t blog enough people will lose interest and go elsewhere. I lost several Twitter followers within the first week of creating the account, probably due to waiting two weeks to post this first blog. Not that I minded too much; I was happy that anyone had decided to follow me at all. I just hope I can deliver what people want. For the record, I will try to post a blog every two weeks. Please be patient; remember I am new to this.

So through this blog I will be posting opinions on various music topics, reviewing albums and other music paraphernalia, and reviewing live gigs/ festivals that I go to. You may not agree with everything I say but that is what is great about music; everyone has their own story to tell. Feel free to comment on my posts, but be warned, offensive comments will be deleted. I don’t promise that all the blog posts will be word-perfect, but I will always try to be true to its name and to wear (and write) my heart on my sleeve notes.

 

Grace Notes, 2^nd March 2015