Here’s one Hillary with no negative polling whatsoever. Hillary Susz, a Seattle native currently living in Boulder, Colorado can be easily added to the growing list of ethereal alt-acoustic folk singers plumbing the depth of the human experience, but with a knack for metaphor and some humor.
She has already drawn comparisons to everybody from Sharon Van Etten to Angel Olsen, but Susz quickly forges her own path on her album The Heart Will Jump (With Nowhere to Fall), out this month. And on the track “Make Me Make You,” which we’re happy to premiere today, it’s the stark and vivid lyrics that stand out.
Drawing from a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Western Washington University, the CU candidate for an MFA in fiction has its protagonist compare her own body to a glass house, a speeding car, and a night sky among other things, and describes the recipient’s reaction.
Then there is her voice, a kind of operatic moan that’s tough to ignore. Her acoustic guitar stylings are unexpected and irregular, but make way for a subtle cello. That comes after she sings the wry line, “Your openness writes in me a chorus with six saxophones and one sorry violin.”
There follows a fuller string backing before a rock band kicks in with two minutes to go (Hey, it’s a six-minute track altogether—you get more for your money here). Not much more is known about Susz. But there’s enough interesting things to make you say: I’m with her.
