Rebecca Hurn – Brace for Impact

‘Brace for Impact’ is the slightly deceiving title of Rebecca Hurn’s debut album. For the Welsh singer-songwriter performs in a musical style so soft that any oncoming collision does not necessitate the kind of tense response usually reserved for such a warning. Not that the songs here are without emotional impact. But encased in mainly acoustic, guitar led Folk means that, when coupled with her mellifluous vocals, their lyrical content is delivered with a subversive punch.

Opening track ‘Gave Up Giving’ is a case in point. From its big, bold opening, Hurn presents a dramatic storyline tinged with melancholy and regret. “I grew up giving myself away” is the hinge from which a protectionist stance emerges, growing from lost friendships and broken relationships, which eventually leads to stolen happiness when a moment of hope shines through. It is a really tragic story but told through a tender composition that proffers easy listening over sympathy-inducing sentiment.

Even ‘Seventeen’ and ‘Constellations’ curb the capturing of perfect moments in idealism. The return to innocence is a longing for those “sunburnt summers” and “that gold rush” but without the mushiness that normally accompanies such wishes. This is deep and heartfelt for Hurn, whose steadfast presentation allows her songs to become genuine experiences instead of Disneyfied scenes. It means that the delicate expression in ‘Turbulence’, for instance, affords the literal a metaphorical slant, which in turn commentates on the mindset of the anxious in a really relatable way. All the while that signature Folk style remains unwavering.

It continues into ‘I Don’t Mind the Rain’, a gentle dance around words that soar with burgeoning love, and ‘I Just Don’t Love You Anymore’, where that love turns sour and truth is “screamed so loud till he’d listen”. Again, the irony is that even in rage Hurn remains level-headed; with vocals light as a feather though the lyrics weigh heavy with hurt. She has a similar style to ELERI on Earthbound: a South Walian wistfulness that is quietly captivating. None more so than on ‘The Night We Stole the Moon’, where the harmonising produces a very visual effect.

The album culminates, in my opinion, with ‘Paper Town’. I say this because the two “acoustic” versions that follow don’t really add anything substantially different to their original counterparts. And also, because the line “I’m nobody’s fool” is perhaps the most forthright and forceful on the whole record. If everything leading up to this has been the ‘brace’ then this song certainly feels like the ‘impact’. But in true Rebecca Hurn fashion, it’s transposed into a soothing soundtrack that belies its resolute message.

It may be her debut but Rebecca Hurn already sounds like a seasoned storyteller. ‘Brace for Impact’ is surely an indication of her inevitable rise onto the UK Country/Folk scene.

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Featured Image (C) Rebecca Hurn