ALBUM REVIEW: Going To Hell – Lande Hekt

Moving away from her beginnings in indie rock band MUNCIE GIRLS, frontwoman LANDE HEKT tells the deeply personal tale of her coming out on solo record, Going To Hell. At once tender, personal and earnest, Going To Hell sees Hekt traversing deep into her emotions, exploring a plethora of conflicting and complex feelings when coming to terms with your sexuality and identity.

The production on this record is often as raw as the lyricism and song writing, leaving the listener feeling as though they are alone at an open mic watching LANDE HEKT pour her heart out onstage to only you. Opener Whiskey is a prime example of this, with Hekt’s sweet and understated vocal swimming delicately over the rough instrumentation.

Incredibly perceptive lyricism collides with sweet indie-rock melodies and LANDE HEKT’s vocals are superb throughout, sounding nostalgic and earnest. It’s an album which relies more on feeling and emotion than overtly ground-breaking song structures or ideas, but this is a serious strength of Hekt‘s, and always has been. It serves only to emphasise her strength of character throughout the just-over 30 minute run.

80 Days of Rain and Impending Dooming show off Hekt’s talent for song-writing like nothing else – witticisms and rhymes are a thinly disguised layer of widespread appeal which do nothing to hide the perceptive and poignant observations of tiny but dense moments in everyday life. “Is this just another string of bad luck?… I can’t do this again” she sings in a monotone, somehow feeling the weight of every word without altering her pure diction.

Undone, the album’s second single, is similarly simplistic in its production and arrangement, with a touching chord progression and a killer backing track from the band when they do kick in. A song imbued with longing, Hekt’s lyrics take forefront as she lists the aims she has for her life, and voices the discontentment she has with the way things are. It’s a perfect depiction of the kind of frustrations that the younger generation feel towards the way things are in the world, but it never sinks too far into hopelessness, instead picking up the emotions towards the end of the song for a rousing finish.

Ultimately, this album will be too simplified to suit a lot of people’s tastes. Don’t expect extended guitar solos, time signature changes or cryptic lyrics. Just expect the musings of a young queer woman learning to live with the fact that she is gay, getting pissed off about the ongoing issue of climate change, the loggerheaded battle between the LGBTQ community and Catholics, and a plethora of other issues which are just as likely to make you think as they are to make you rock out. 

All in all, Going To Hell is an important cornerstone of LANDE HEKT’s journey, as a creative and as a person. Whilst imperfect, it still manages to be touching, affecting and, above all, honest. It’s as personal a record as she has ever had a hand in making, and we should feel privileged to be privy to it. 

Rating: 7/10

Going To Hell is set for release on January 22nd via Get Better Records. 

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