Lola Kirke's debut record is a breathy, hazy trip through country-tinged Americana. The kind of thing you might hear playing in drowsy bars deep in swamp country.
In its strongest moments, Heart Head West is pleasingly haunting, channelling a Gothic feeling of romanticised doom or a Lynchian strangeness. When it twists the conventions of the genre to its smoky vision.
It's when it doesn't, when it adheres to the rules rather than perverting them, that the album falters. Turn Away Your Heart and Bad News, for example, are straight up country, fiddles and all, and less interesting because of it.
However, Supposed To, a standard issue barn-stomper, is elevated to one of the album's highlights thanks to Kirke's swooning delivery, sassy lyrics and the energised performance of her band.
The winkingly audacious Born to Die is another highlight. The song riffs on the similarly titled Springsteen classic and matches it with the chord progression from Twin Peaks theme Falling. Kirke's dramatic performance on Simon Says, which pits her breathy and emotive vocals against a squalling feedback-drenched guitar, is another easy standout.
