Lande Hekt – ‘Lucky Now’ album review: a rocking celebration of beginning again
The promise shown by Lande Hekt’s emotional range in Lucky Now is engaging, but the execution is not quite there yet. For her fourth album, the Devonian songwriter explores themes of queer identity, sobriety, and homecoming through her weapon of choice, a dramatically strummed indie guitar loop.
The Skinny: Lande Hekt’s gliding guitar melodies and elated plucking marry emulsified vocals to merge into a well-flowing record. The indie pop prodigy cosily nestled up to energising drums and an upbeat banjo for a subdued counter-melody that complements her soaring lyrics. Her vivid storytelling conjures up familiar motifs of young relationships and identity, drawing sweet metaphors with common items of domestic occurrence and making herself easily relatable.
This makes Lucky Now a great soundtrack for an indie road trip, which unfortunately also means that it does too good a job at blending into the background. Yet, there is a quirky characteristic to be found if you lend it a more watchful ear. Although it shares a lot of its characteristics with many other British indie albums that came before it, its mournful, soaring melodies are brought to life by idiosyncratic lyrical poetry.
However, that doesn’t always carry through to the melody over the course of the full record. Its guitar loops sometimes verge on the repetitive, and its spirited strumming builds momentum, but ends up feeling vacant on the record’s less polished tracks. Generally, it shows potential for greatness, but more diversity is required to reach that height.
In the arc of Hekt’s work, Lucky Now demonstrated maturity, optimism, and confidence. Her album was written after just having moved back home to Exeter, a quieter corner of the world compared to her previous home of Bristol. There’s definitely a sense of relief hidden between the bars, and the singer’s determined prose mirrors the active control she’s regained in her life. The album is about return, and although it’s uplifting to witness an artist’s homecoming, you are also left feeling passively outside of the experience.
The Verdict: The stories and their instrumentation are lively, but are nothing new in its genre. ‘Lucky Now’ is strong in poetic lyricism, and although Hekt’s mastery of folk guitar makes for an energetic album, it leaves much to be desired.
Standout track: ‘Favourite pair of shoes’
Release Date: January 30th, 2026 | Producer: Matthew Simms | Label: Tapete Records
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.