A short but sweet album of highly personal songs with messages everyone can relate to.
In common with many artists, Hillary Reynolds is still catching up with the world post-pandemic. She found herself with a set of “songs that felt too personal to pitch to other performers” after a few years of writing and collaborating with the likes of Andy Grammer, Mickey Guyton, and Rory Andrew. Having ground to a halt career-wise as life took over, she has now produced a debut solo album.
The first song, and title track of “Changing Seasons”, written with producer Benjamin Kopf in 2018, is a cello, piano and guitar ballad. It shows off her thoughtful approach to songwriting: “I started thinking about the passage of time, about how love can change because we change. ‘You see me just as I am’ – I think this song is about dropping into the beauty of the moment and allowing yourself to be present and choosing to do that over and over again”.
‘Can’t Turn Off My Mind’, written with singer Madison Malone, “is a song about insomnia… Since finishing this song, Madison and I have become mothers, and insomnia has become a familiar friend.” While her press suggests that fans of bands like The Staves will like this, the introspective nature of her words reminds me of some of Over The Rhine’s more confessional songs. This is particularly true on ‘Disappearing’, a song about calling out those friends who vanish for ages, while also leaving communication open.
Reynolds’ voice is reminiscent of Elizabeth Fraser at times, the same high, clear tone. Musically, she’s a long way from The Cocteau Twins, of course, but on songs like ‘Gaslight’, there is a touch of bands like Mazzy Star in the ambient keyboard and string sounds behind her voice and guitar.
At only eight songs long, the similarity of pace and tone doesn’t have a chance to get old. ‘Magic’ is a simple acoustic guitar song about getting engaged on the night of the 2016 US election. The stately ‘Jumping In’ is another song which veers toward dream pop, with an ethereal vocal drifting over the densest arrangement of the album. ‘No One Knows I’m Here’ is the most “country” song here, with a bounce which sets it apart from much of the rest of the album. Reynolds says, “I think this song and production have a playful nature to it – exploring wild spaces with a lighter heart and lightness of foot.”
And then we are at the final song. ‘You and I’ is a song written a week before her wedding, and like the rest of the song, there is a personal slant to it. “From the beginning of the recording process, I knew it was important for me to end the album with ‘You and I’. I always knew this would be the last track of the album because I knew I wanted to end the album with “I am home when you’re close to me” as the final line.”
Hillary Reynolds is a fine songwriter, and you can see why she didn’t want anyone else singing these songs. “The eight songs on “Changing Seasons” are meant to be a soothing companion to morning routines — something to ease listeners into a new day, to ground you before the chaos sets in.” And that would be mission accomplished because they are a peaceful set of tunes which do leave you feeling that you can face the world with equanimity.
