- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Q MagazineProduced again by former Arcade Fire man Howard Bilerman, here spare, lovelorn songs such as zithery vigil The Shore evoke an elegant melancholy, while the more rugged likes of Gold Rush dart forth on galloping drums, fiddles and banjos. [Feb 2010, p. 104]
-
Folk can be a notoriously intransigent genre, and Basia Bulat probably occupies the less user friendly end of the spectrum, but for those who like an album which grows and reveals its treasures slowly, A Heart of My Own is gold.
-
Heart of My Own sounds more produced than Oh, My Darling, but not for lack of quality. Despite the yearning lyrical plotlines, the warmth exuded from the woodsy harmony of Bulat’s voice mingling with the amalgamation of guest instruments cozies even the bitterest of winter days.
-
It's upbeat even if most of Bulat’s songs dwell on heart-ache and loss. That notion is on par with every singer-songwriter these days but her voice drives these concepts into a feeling that’s genuine. In other words, Bulat can pine with the best of them.
-
Her unmistakable voice--a trembling, expressive contralto--remains a make-or-break feature, but she's learned when to reel it in on follow-up Heart of My Own.
-
Heart of My Own amplifies guarded things, a tuneful prototype of new-century folk intent on having its voice heard.
-
At times arresting, at other moments it's let down by some odd choices in the production and mixing. There is enough to hold the attention and to draw the listener back.
-
Expertly and diversely arranged, the songs of Heart of My Own build and hover, often in surprising ways.
-
Heart's production work, again by Bilerman, isn't always successful....But the album shakes such shackles often enough to maintain an atmosphere of warm intimacy.
-
It’s an album unlikely to reign in anyone who’s on the fence about adding a folk album to their catalogue, but sure to delight those who like their melancholy sentiments sung by a voice that is as dexterous as it is vulnerable
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 5 out of 7
-
Mixed: 1 out of 7
-
Negative: 1 out of 7
-
Feb 8, 2014
-
Jun 4, 2016