If you are bored with the whole singer-songwriter scene being the bastion of gap-year troubadours laying out their stories of heartache and wisdom over a strummed working knowledge of A-minor, then Hendrick is here to restore your faith. It is not that she is doing anything massively different from everyone else; it is that she is doing it better than everyone else!
Just listen to the guitar work on “Deep Feeling Man” and marvel at its classical dexterity, funky grooves, soulfulness, and buoyancy; you won’t get that from the skinny jeans and wide-brimmed hat brigade. No, this is something special. And because of the tones and textures that she and fellow guitarist Scott Cameron draw out of those six simple strings, the songs, by and large, need little else. The occasional additional sound, the spacious use of beat, and Hendrick’s soft and sentimental vocals, but that is it.
“The Fairy” goes full folk-pop, a whispered and dynamic song reminding us that we don’t have to carry our burdens alone, and a scintillating, cascading array of breaks and solos, bass interludes, and superb sonic ebbs and flows. “Buried Words” is beautifully baroque, Bachian, and beautiful, “Viola Visits” is poised and perfect pop, and “I’m Not Sorry” is a drifting and intricate jazz-infused ballad.
Soft Landing goes beyond the usual requirements of the singer-songwriter genre; it is clear that she comes from a more exacting learning curve than your average bar-room strummer. These blends of classical and jazz and flamenco and folk but with accessible and relatable pop lyrics over the top, this balance of skill and infectious really sets Hendrick and this album apart from the pack. In fact, so far apart that the pack would need the James Webb Space Telescope even to find her on the map!
