Graded on a Curve:
Flora Hibberd,
Swirl

Born in Britian and based in Paris, singer-songwriter Flora Hibberd makes a strong positive impression with her debut album Swirl, which is out now on ice blue transparent vinyl and digital via 22Twenty Records. Sturdy and pretty of voice and sharp with her lyrics, Hibberd’s music benefits from structural heft, depth of feeling, and stylistic range that’s aided by a fine backing band. The album’s eleven songs are fully formed as they predict a promising future for the artist.

Regarding Flora Hibberd, it should be mentioned that the promise began in 2021 with the release of the 10-inch EP “Hold,” its seven songs establishing a warm, folky sensibility blended with pop smarts and non-trite country shadings. Swirl doesn’t break with this introductory foundation, but rather enhances it with increased astuteness in execution.

With crisp guitar and a buoyant rhythm, Swirl’s opener “Auto Icon” leans toward the pop side of Hibberd’s spectrum, but with a clear classique singer-songwriter undercurrent. It has the feel of a sleeper hit, in part due to the appeal of Hibberd’s singing, which is far from wispy but stopping short of husky. Additionally, what she’s saying is worth hearing, but the construction of the songs is equally beneficial, allowing them to withstand repeated play and flourish, really get their hooks in.

“Remote Becoming Holy” is a harder hitting dose of pedal steel tinged folk-rock, subtly suggesting Neil Young. A whole album in this mode would be fine, but then “Code” shifts gears, returning to a pop template but injecting it with touches of the unusual. Next up is a turn toward gentle folk with “Every Incident Has Left Its Mark,” although the piece does gradually build up to a folk-rocky conclusion, complete with some guitar burn (and not so Neil-like, this time).

It’s “Canopy” that beings Swirl a delightful twist, starting out like a slice of late-’60s East Coast underground folk before the pedal steel swings the pendulum toward the Laurel Canyon and along the way, shades of Josephine Foster arise to pull it all together. If there is a recurring motif in Hibberd’s work, it’s that she prefers to begin in a spare place only to raise the intensity as the backing kicks in. But Swirl isn’t as formulaic as that might suggest; “Baby” is made up almost (I stress almost) entirely of just Hibberd’s vocal and a fingerpicked guitar.

And then “Jesse” busts out as a full-bodied pop-rocker right away, though it’s not without it’s dynamic ebb and flow. “Lucky You” extends the energy; when the drums kick in mid-way through, the gesture feels familiar but not overdone. Entering the homestretch, “Fern” delivers a standout with a darker edge, and then Hibberd goes for the big shift, dishing out “Still No Closer,” a relaxing ditty that’s almost like mid-’80s Laurie Anderson taking an offramp to Margaritaville. And if that sounds nutso, understand that she pulls it off.

“Ticket,” Swirl’s finale, returns to fingerpicking along with a shuffling snare, solid bass pulse, and intermittent wiggles of analog synth. It completes a record loaded with growers leaving one eager to hear what Hibberd has in store next.

GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-

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