Natalie Hemby - Pins and Needles
COUNTRY STANDARD TIME
HomeNewsInterviewsCD ReleasesCD ReviewsConcertsArtistsArchive
 

Pins and Needles (Fantasy, 2021)

Natalie Hemby

Reviewed by Dan MacIntosh

Natalie Hemby is one of your favorite songwriters, even though you may not know her by name. However, she's written (or co-written) hits - not merely recorded songs – for Lady A ("Downtown"), Jon Pardi ("Heartache Medication") and Miranda Lambert ("Bluebird"). She's also a strong singer, which is one big reason why she's a member – along with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires – of the all-female The Highwomen. With "Pins and Needles," she's again been given the chance to show off all her skills and all under her own name.

The best track is "Hardest Part About Business," which is built upon a stomping Appalachian groove, colored by persistent banjo and down home guitar. "The hardest part about business," Hemby tells us on it, "is minding your own." Hemby wrote the ghost-y "Banshee with Lambert," which features her whistling on its intro. Hemby wrote with another high-profile collaborator (Morris) on "Heart Condition," and again with Lambert for "It Takes One To Know One."

Hemby says she was inspired by early '90s rock, as well as artists like Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow for the sound and content of this, her second solo album. For much of it, Hemby comes off saucy and confident. However, she finishes on a vulnerable note with "Last Resort," one of the album's quieter inclusions. "Pins and Needles" is by no means some kind of songwriter's indulgent solo project. No, Natalie Hemby deserves the whole spotlight, and proves it with each and every song.


CDs by Natalie Hemby

Pins and Needles, 2021


©Country Standard Time • Jeffrey B. Remz, editor & publisher • countrystandardtime@gmail.com
AboutCopyrightNewsletterOur sister publication Standard Time
Subscribe to Country Music News Country News   Subscribe to Country Music CD Reviews CD Reviews   Follow us on Twitter  Instagram  Facebook  YouTube