Let Down

A bruised romantic with a steely gaze and a subtle touch, Lilly Hiatt delivers a vivid, emotionally authentic batch of tunes on her debut, *Let Down*. The 22-year-old daughter of John Hiatt follows in her dad’s footsteps of smart, rootsy songwriting while displaying a mix of country twang and garage rock rumble that’s distinctly her own. Hiatt’s vocals—lightly Southern-accented, with a hint of vibrato—convey toughness under their sweet surface tones. She’s adept at sketching dysfunctional lovers and volatile domestic scenes, as the snarling, Crazy Horse–influenced tracks “Angry Momma” and “Big Bad Wolf” show. Songs like “Championship Fighter” and “3 Days” lean more toward traditional country with twanging guitars and hardscrabble fatalism. At times, Hiatt seems to teeter on the brink of despair, though even downbeat numbers like “People Don’t Change” reveal an underlying resolve. The poignant life-and-death mysteries within “Knew You Were Coming” confirm her narrative skills as a lyricist. The Dropped Ponies play with nuance and bite throughout, with guitarist Beth Finney standing out with her fiery solo eruptions.