14 April 2020
In the space of a few songs on her Heart on Fire EP, Abby Brown establishes herself as a formidable singer and songwriter who has no problem shifting from peppy, yet earthy pop to flamenco-rhythmed declarations of passion to the bittersweet sadness of a breakup ballad.
Produced by John Heithaus and Pete Young and recorded at Zac Brown’s Southern Ground studio in Nashville, Heart on Fire contains three Brown originals, each with distinct charms. “Every Day of My Life” is a winsome, lightly funky snapshot of domestic harmony, of the sort newlyweds might revel in. Handclaps and Hammond organ deck it out, without over-embellishing.
While Brown sings of lighting candles and setting the mood in “Every Day,” “Heart on Fire” is all about ignition — and blast-off. As Ethan Ballinger’s Spanish guitar sets the tone, Brown comes in, low and breathy at first, then climbing close to high soprano range as the heat rises. You don’t know the power of attraction till you’re there/caught in the moment when his hands run through your hair, she sings, as the tempo changes to a canter. It’s a cool, sexy interlude — whether real or fantasy; it’s rather nebulous.
In “Love Release Me,” Brown fills her voice with the ache we’ve all felt when a lover leaves us, but we can’t let go. Strings and piano echo and intensify the emotion in her voice. She closes the album with a stripped down version that’s also affecting.
Between those two takes, Brown covers Maren Morris’s “Sugar,” and does a fine job. But the song itself has the flavor of artificial sweetener, as if it was created by algorithms. As song about lust go, Brown’s original is much better than this one. If she chooses to cover something on her next release, it should be a song that’s more worthy of her talents.
Lynne Margolis is a Pittsburgher-turned-Texan freelance writer/editor whose work has appeared in: NPR, Christian Science Monitor, The Grammy, American Songwriter, Austin Monthly, Lone Star Music Magazine