A beautiful folk album from Colorado-based band Sturtz, Hyacinth envelops in its lushly melodic production and personal lyrical themes. “Life don’t come that easy,” vocals convey amidst heart-tugging strings and trickling acoustics on “Photographs,” asking as well — “is there time to amend, your parents’ love and where it went?” — in aptly embodying the album’s impactful pursuits into the personal and reflectively vulnerable.
“Beck and the Call” opens with a serenely pulsing introspection, capturing personal defense mechanisms and one who hides “hard behind a joke or two, just to seem fine.” The plucky guitar work traverses into affecting strings, concluding with a powerful title-referencing sequence: “It’s the rise and the fall, the beck and the call, of an impulse with no rails at all.” Sturtz showcase a riveting, personal folk appeal throughout Hyacinth, and “Beck and the Call” is a powerful kick-off track in being wonderfully exemplary of such.
The ensuing “Look What You Find” emits a more vibrant folk-forward enchantment; guitars frolic enjoyably amidst calls to “gotta get up,” whilst admitting “it’s a long, hard road from here.” The production continues to impress with interplay between trickling guitars and heartfelt strings, adorned with seamless charm alongside calming vocal melodics. The opening two tracks — emphasizing personal struggles and a daunting road ahead, respectively — fully resonate in their depictions of relatable trials and tumult, set within arrangements that compel in their emotional folk arsenal.
Hyacinth continues to impress consistently thereafter, continuing to convey a vulnerable yet thoughtful artfulness in its lyricism. “I don’t know the rules of recess,” the vocals let out on “Recess” alongside subdued acoustics and lingering strings, later calling out for a need to “move on,” as additional guitars enter with gorgeous entrancement. The subsequent “Mom Song” is similarly enthralling in its melding of childhood and adulthood references, here in the context of a mother and a now-adult son. “I’ll call soon,” the vocals exude as slight strings and twinkling piano enter, following laments of not calling enough, though also a mother who respects her son’s need for space; the track is a powerful capturing of a mother-child relationship, through aging and evolving needs.
Another clear standout, “Wasted Time” is a stirring portrayal of finite time in life. “Look back while wondering, while dreams go stumbling,” the lyrics reflect, reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens in its ethereal contemplation and drive into the “there’s always time, to live as you see,” spine-tingling conviction. Second-half string entries bolster the fully affecting sound, melding well within the album’s tendencies to portray the intimate moments of life — from parental relationships to the shift from childhood to adulthood. Hyacinth is a fantastic folk success from Sturtz.
