Local Review: Emily Hicks – Weird Wild Wonderful

Emily Hicks
Weird Wild Wonderful
Self-Released
Street: 09.06
Emily Hicks = Lainey Wilson + Mandy Moore

SLUG has had the opportunity to review a few of Emily Hicks’ previous singles and stand-alones, but Weird Wild Wonderful is the local performer’s first full-length expression, and it’s exactly the meld of sweet and crisp country one could only hope to listen to on a bright, September day. Hicks manages to monologue on traditional pop-country topics including, but not limited to, finding love, leaving one’s hometown, growing older and escaping mundanity. These tracks undulate in an unsurprising but welcome blend of Hicks’ namesake cheery, warm vocals swimming alongside slow-tempered drum beats and good ol’ guitar rhythms.

Weird Wild Wonderful begins with an almost self-titled track—“Weird Wild Wonderful You”—that feels the most intrinsically Hicks’ brand of steady, vocal purity in the same vein of Mandy Moore’s recent works, or when the local theater kid sings a hymn during church but they’re actually talented. The saccharine lyricism of “Your love shines like the sun in the middle of the night / Call me your moon and let me stand in the light” paired with smooth beats and acoustics lead to an instrumental bridge that sounds wholly modern, feminine country.

The collection continues with songs “Far from Home,” “Anymore” and “Wild as the Flowers,” which focus far more on Hicks’ vocal brightness rather than the punchiness of instrumental twang. Her vocal nuance and talent is centered more cleanly within each chorus that it becomes easy to lose oneself in her prowess rather than focus on the messages of longing for the past and reminiscing. “Picket Fenced In” was the standout of the album—the cadence, tone and lyrical playfulness marking the track as a true indication of Hicks’ skill and sincerity. She sings, “He loves the wild in me / Locked out never felt so free / Doesn’t make me choose between / Planting roots or chasing dreams / Settling down ain’t settling / With him I’ve never been white picket fenced in.” 

Other tracks like “When You Look at Me” and “One Piece at a Time” border on almost early-2010s indie-pop with their mix of jangling, bouncy background vocals and stripped down instrumental taps and horns recalling melodies and sounds that feel He is We-adjacent. As the final single on the album, “Let You Stay” takes on quite a different presence from the others. Hicks laments about caring for someone in your life despite them not being a blood relative, yet still treating them with the same love and respect as you would family—assumingly a step parent singing to their child. “You’re too young to understand now / How much you mean to me,” she croons to piano accompaniment. “Even if you think I won’t see you the same / I promise if you’d show up at my doorstep one day / I’ll let you stay.” The bridge builds to an impressive culmination of “oohs” and “aahs” surrounded by strings, drums and guitar that delicately highlight Hicks as she swells then drops to the final chorus.

Weird Wild Wonderful contains and represents each version of Hicks’ vocal subtleties in a sincere and delightful country-pop package, perfectly primed and ready for your enjoyment this fall as you partake in crispy apples and hay rides down dirt roads. –Jamie Christensen

Read more local album reviews:
Local Review: Sundials – Planetarium
Local Review: Jeff Dewsnup – A Poison Tree (In The Fog)