Artist: Heather Richards
Album: Where the Jasmine Blooms
Review by Bobby Jo Valentine
Where the Jasmine Blooms is a wonderful, earthy, honest album full of great lyrical sensibility and melodic beauty. Heather Richards has a great sense of musical arrangement and harmony, with some beautiful string pieces mixing with pleasant, smooth lyrics that will charm and melt the coldest of hearts. There is a recurring theme of nature and love throughout the track, but good songwriting and a personal, memorable voice in Heather Richards adds just the right amount of variety to make the entire album well worth listening to.
Heather jumps into a wonderful song of letting go and opening herself up to what life has to offer in “Where the Jasmine Blooms” The chorus swells with a wonderful harmony and a passionate outburst of emotion. “Now I can feel all of this/Now I can feel all of this/Going to dance and sing about it where the jasmine blooms.” A simple drum beat and string section supports this love song to nature and living a full life. On the next song, “Here the Bird Sings,” a beautiful Celtic-style string arrangement carries the song through a sacred place of nature, and has Heather giving tribute to the wonders around her. A very beautiful and inspiring track, the only disappointment that the listener will have when this song finishes is that it didn’t last longer.
“When the Sky Begins To Fall” is the first love song on the album, and although it feels a little slow at times, there are some beautiful moments with a mandolin backing the song. Heather sings about staying with her lover until the end. “Nothing will tear down our wall/when the sky begins to fall.” “Beautiful Vibe” starts out with a beautiful, soulful organ, and quickly transfers into a playful tune about the positive energy a good relationship creates. “Beautiful Vibe” is just plain fun, and its catchy beat and romantic lyrics puts this among the album’s best.
Other standout tracks include “All Because of You,” another fantastic love song about the transformation that happens when love arrives. “Out in the distance/the world looked black and white/You showed me colors/when you came into my life.” This is a recurring compliment, but the strings once again are amazing on this track. “The Old Willow Tree” starts out with a babbling brook sound, and takes you away to Heather sitting by an old tree, recalling memories of another life. “Nothing More Beautiful” has a wonderful, driving rhythm to it, with organic percussion and a catchy, simple chorus. “There’s nothing more beautiful than your love.”
Heather writes about simple things; nature, love, the value of having time away from the rush of a busy culture. But she does it well, and her sense of melody, honest voice, and dynamic arrangements carry the listener smoothly and pleasantly through the album. A lot of the lyrics have a personal poignancy about them that will give the listener an emotional attachment to Heather and her stories. The themes might not be totally new or original, but the music is overwhelmingly well done, and Heather has created a touching, significant, and beautiful album that has some incredible things to say about love, life, and waking up to the beauty all around.
Review by Bobby Jo Valentine
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)