The Belle Curves - Subject to Change
Katie Rife explores the pregnant expectation in The Belle Curves' recent album Subject to Change
Spring is just beginning to sprout from under the frozen earth. And The Belle Curves album Subject to Change is the perfect prelude. The band’s chief singer-songwriter, Delaney Haefner, lives in upstate New York, where it’s as slushy and muddy in early spring as it is in my hometown of Chicago. And her music has a feeling of longing to it, of putting on a jacket and heading outside on the first warmish day, of feeling the sun on your face and dreaming of brighter things ahead.
Haefner’s voice is sweet as tree-ripened peaches, and that’s what gives her songs their golden juice. This can be an issue when she’s going for something more somber — Subject to Change takes a turn for the melancholy towards the end, and album closers “Pour Over” and “the last song” aren’t as accessible as the sunny four-song run that opens the record. But on the whole, it’s a delicious addition to her songwriting, either creating an ironic contrast or offering straightforward pleasure depending on how Haefner plays the lyrics.
This is a record about appreciating the little things in life: A cup of coffee, a hand-rolled cigarette, a full tank of gas. That last one is particularly prominent — “Hand-Rolled” and “Life in the Hinterlands” are both about life on the road, familiar subject matter for a touring musician like Haefner. “I’m always in my car at 2 AM / Always got an hour and a low RPM,” she sings in the latter song, a propulsive anthem with a handclap chorus and a rhythm that mimics tires on pavement.
Even the songs that aren’t about literal movement have a wistful wanderlust to them. “Topo Chico” idly wonders whether L.A. is the paradise people say it is (Haefner has her doubts), while “Private Oceans” centers on a barfly who isn’t ready to leave the good times behind and become a real adult just yet. For all of this album’s sweetness, yearning and dissatisfaction run throughout Haefner’s lyrics, making Subject to Change also the ideal soundtrack for coping with long-distance relationships and unrequited crushes — you know, Sapphic things.
Haefner’s influences are pristine, and she subtly shouts them out throughout Subject to Change. The Tom Petty-esque “Life in the Hinterlands” makes a winking reference to “crying to ‘American Girl’ on the radio,” and she quotes Cheap Trick’s biggest hit in the opening verse of “Pour-Over.” The combination of buzzy indie-rock guitars and addictive choruses recall Kim Deal and The Breeders, while Haefner’s soaring vocals make me think of Vivian Girls vocalist Katy Goodman and her dreamy side project, La Sera. (La Sera’s See the Light is one of my favorite albums, so that’s a high compliment.)
Blending indie and Americana sensibilities seems to be Haefner’s primary project with The Belle Curves, and the combination is addictive when she leans into the anthemic qualities of both genres. Her attempts at harder-edged country — wailing electric blues guitar, growling vocals — aren’t as catchy. But when Haefner strips her songwriting down to its essentials for the ballad “Sister,” the results are heartbreakingly pure and beautiful.
Haefner clearly has an ear for melody and an appreciation for small moments. And her music is best when it keeps it simple, too. This is in no way a bad thing: In fact, when the world is too overwhelming to bear, simple pleasures can be quite grounding. That’s when it’s time to make a cup of coffee, put Subject to Change on the turntable, and feel the sun — literal or metaphorical — on your face.
