Feeling Lucky Now, UK singer-songwriter Lande Hekt is counting her blessings, letting go of the heavy burdens that hung over 2021’s Going to Hell – her auspicious debut LP – and 2022’s House Without a View and appreciating the little things. Her load has lightened considerably, as Hekt’s dreamy, indie-pop epiphanies choose gratitude and acceptance over bitterness and regret.
Taking stock in the reflective, banjo-flecked ballad “Middle of the Night,” Hekt looks back on the rocky road she’s traveled to get to contentment, her humble victory lap acknowledging a hard-earned sobriety as the exquisitely rendered track alternates between spare honesty and triumphant lushness. Just as moving and wistful, “The Sky” is more bruised and bittersweet, as opposed to upbeat charmers “My Imaginary Friend” and “Coming Home” that come wrapped in inviting nostalgia and optimism.
Lilting melodies and soft, lithe guitar jangle that could make The Beths weak in the knees are the stuff of Lucky Now, with the light hooks of “Rabbits” and “Kitchen II” – a minor miracle of a love story that ends up in wholesome candlelit intimacy – vying for attention with the sweeping pop rushes of a political “Circular” and “Favourite Pair of Shoes,” the latter coated with a thin layer of crunchy distortion for sugary texture. Seemingly more comfortable in her own skin, the ongoing work of addressing her queer identity and healing old wounds put aside for now, the ever-earnest Hekt is still a little tender in places, but there is real joy in her life. It shines like the sun on Lucky Now, even if it dips under dark clouds now and then.
