Elisabeth Pixley-Fink’s ‘Heartskin’ allows for the listener to be cradled, pushed and taught what it is to be alive and let oneself experience those magical things that encapsulate existence – love, loss and self-exploration. A beautiful album that displays her thoughts as our own and never fails to surprise on each and every listen.
Elisabeth Pixley-Fink – Heartskin
The opening guitar riff immediately sends you into an unsettled but loving journey and sets the tone nicely for an album of the same feeling throughout. ‘Those Were the Days’ sets the album’s tone quickly as a reminiscing of time gone with a melodic calm candescence whilst throwing out a handful of punk-fuelled lyrics and more than enough angst.
This flows perfectly into ‘Habits’ that tackles similar issues of living in the past and letting it influence the present presence of mind.
‘How to Stop Loving You’ continues the list and turmoil spent on this mysterious love of the past and allows the listener to latch onto many different thought-provoking sentiments that they can place in their own life – ‘How to stop loving you’ takes my spot as the track to think about on the album!
‘Didn’t I try’ takes the experience forward into the realm of acceptance and trying to confirm with oneself that what they did was right, this song builds to a point around 2 minutes 25 seconds in where the listener will be lost in the essence of the artist and the message.
‘Hidden Camera’ leaves the listener in love limbo and allows for a standstill in the timeline created thus far. Almost bringing a feeling to its conclusion at the halfway whilst opening many more avenues of thought.
‘The Coffee is Cold’ breaks the silence by throwing the past into the future and the future into the past and keeps the listener in a chokehold of realisation. At this point in the album, different directions have been taken by each listener and thus a true piece of art has been crafted.
Nothing better suits this mould than ‘Fearless and The Pure’ as it shatters the atmospheric bubble manufactured by the start of the album and breaks out into punk purity. The thrashing guitar and strut-worthy lyrics thrust the listener into a euphoric trance. ‘Fearless and The Pure’ takes this album’s award for track to come back to.
Simply stunning album craftsmanship. ‘Heartskin’ lassoes us back down to earth and forces us back into the true essence of thought and who we are.
‘Alone’ continues this calm folk feel and it now seems a lifetime ago since ‘Fearless and The Pure’ broke our world and we are sat in the middle of our own universe and forced us to consider all that we are and all that we can be.
‘Precious’ lifts us back up with the best guitar riffs present on the album, a lovely mix of meaningful lyrics and easy flow allows the listener to float again through the turmoil of life present thus far. A quick blast into safety whilst maintaining the essence of imagery and the necessity of self-realisation.
‘Your Song’ Everything so far is encapsulated in this song; some beautiful folk guitar and synth sounds that paint a beautiful lullaby to get us ready to finish our journey – this song taking the album’s track for pleasure award.
‘This is Love’ takes the whole album and puts it on show. The feelings of love, life and loss are thrust into view. Thirty-seven minutes away from the world and reality strikes – this album is a necessary journey for anyone.
The name Heartskin perfectly embodies everything this album signifies. It takes the human connection to the heart and the emotion it holds and breaks the skin casing it’s in for all to see.
It is truly an album to revisit time and time as each song ignites a different side of life and the build-up will take you on a different, significant emotional ride each time. Let this album take you home and put you face to face with all you think and feel.
A soft, escalating start to the album cascades over the first 6 songs, when ‘Fearless and The Pure’ shatters this and the rest of the album is a dart between the safe comfort of thought and the reality of being alive.
Through folk melodies, punk angst and modern flow, ‘Heartskin’ prevails as a worthy addition to the music landscape and takes its place in the universe as it knowingly would. Elizabeth Pixley-fink invited us to think, feel and wonder what it is we are doing and provides an album worthy of praise, ponder and many more listens.
‘Take yourself away from the every day and be forced into a mesmerising journey through yourself and out the other side with a few punk battle scars and folk tales to tell’
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Words by Thomas Pressley Hitchcock
