Heavy Diamond Ring “Let Love Be Enough” (EP)  

Let Love Be Enough is an EP by Heavy Diamond Ring, produced by Dan Rodriguez, with founding vocalist Sarah Anderson heading up a fine performance, alongside band other band members consisting of longtime partner guitarist and songwriter Paul DeHaven, as well as Blake Stephen on bass, Mike Lang on keyboards and Orion Tate Ignelzi on drums. The EP features five well-crafted songs that play much more like a full-length LP, which is the best thing you can say about an EP release. There’s so much here to wrap your ears around, especially if you love folk music, as they’re one special indie-folk outfit worth catching onto.

URL: https://heavydiamondring.com/

The first song on Let Love Be Enough almost speaks for the whole EP, but that’s nothing the remaining four tracks can’t argue with, as they’re all evenly match fit for the project, so I digress as fast as I opine these songs are truly great folk pieces. “The One You Use” just leads the show with the first little slice of perfection, featuring the exquisite voice of Sarah Anderson, of which not enough can be said about to express, as she sings a song about problems having problems of their own, I was taken away on the first listen, so this track simply had the most impact on me, but I am also happy to say there is not one filler track on the whole collection.

The rest of it is a ride on the gravy train, beginning with the softer, more sultry vocal performance on “Problems,” the second track. This is yet another gem in the perfectly selected sequence of Let Love Be Enough. Together, they come up with some amazing vocals in duet fashion that keeps you drawn in the whole way, with some excellent acoustic baritone guitar, both having a melancholy and haunting effect. The combination of vocals with the rich acoustic guitar actually helps make it one of the best tracks on this truly satisfying release.

“Take Whatever You Need” is the biggest ballad on Let Love Be Enough, so it serves as quite the great pinnacle, with more duetting vocals and fantastic instrumentation being the driving forces behind this masterpiece of music. Needless to say, this is the absolute peaking point of the disc, and why it comes most highly recommended. This is also where Heavy Diamond Ring really shines the most. But it’s not over, as the brightness of “What If I Change” brings the promise of another possibility with Anderson dominating above all on this up-tempo point, which contains some more baritone guitar accents.

These songs are all very tasty, as Let Love Be Enough closes with Anderson going out another high note with “Love Don’t Change” coming in last, but not least. All the songs brought to the table on this release really do carry equal weight and the same quality as they merit the same on every level. The songwriting, musicianship, vocals, and sonic qualities all earn top marks on this fabulous release. These elements all come together with an authentic touch not found often enough anymore in modern indie-folk.

Mark Druery