From her 2002 debut onward, this Nashville-based singer/songwriter has addressed themes of faith and family with a blend of youthful innocence and grown-up wisdom. Loved returns to these topics with a palpable sense of empathy for the spiritually lost and emotionally wounded, avoiding Christian-ese clichés in favor of plainspoken, slightly bittersweet lyricism. Producers Cason Cooley and Ben Shive surround Heller's folk-rock melodies with atmospheric textures, anchored by gently insistent rhythms. Tracks like If You Fall (driven by rippling keyboards and a marching beat) and Better Things (A twang-laden tune with a shoegazer feel) fuse hip sonic cachet with a wide-eyed sense of belief. In tones both enraptured and vulnerable, Heller struggles to understand God in hard times (Who You Are), reaches out for redemption (Create In Me), and testifies to her unshaken faith (I Believe). Most affecting is For You, an affirmation of the humblest believer's worth in the Savior's eyes. Heller does it all with a quiet strength and compassion that should draw listeners back again and again. - iTunes
