What the press are saying about Heather Russell

"One of the area's best singer/songwriters"
Jeff Ware, CitySearch, Raleigh NC

In a club scene dominated by alternative rockers and generic jazz combos, Heather Russell is an anomaly. A music major at Furman University during her college days, she favors a highly refined, layered, complex sound beneath a singing voice that is strong yet ethereal…Her voice has an uncanny, breathy, tremolo quality; her phrasing is open and clear. The overall effect is a sort of spacey sexiness that is quite appealing…
Herald-Sun, Durham NC

"A beautiful voice and a very clean bright sound"
Jeff Hepfer, Burn Yer Radio

It is a catch-phrase to relegate all self-accompanied vocalists to folk music. With Russell that would be a mistake. Her piano playing is at times jazz-driven, at times contrapuntal and even, sometimes, steeped in familiar rock idioms. But her distinctive, sometimes whispered, singing makes whatever style she uses highly personal, and her warm stage presence adds to that ambience. That fact was amply proven with this two-part concert that showed both her individual, and combo-driven music.
Chapel Hill News, Chapel Hill NC.

Russell's light vocals evoke a breathy version of Edie Brickell crossed with the Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan. She's accompanied by piano, faint guitar, sparse drumming and occasional flute.
Michael Ansaldo, Listen.Com

Her songs are loaded with highly personal, quietly passionate lyrics… Her words are elegant and direct; her music intricate, ambitious and in search of more instrumental voices… Heather’s skill on the keyboard betrays her background as a music major and classically trained pianist; her gift for arrangement is further proof of her education and of her promising creativity. She mentioned Kate Bush and Jane Siberry as major influences on her music, and indeed, Russell is firmly within this difficult-to-define genre - a branch of rock music pretty much invented by Bush and plied solely by women. Like Bush and Siberry, Heather regards her voice as a musical instrument, and in her singing we can hear the desire to make a purely musical statement beyond the vocalization of lyrics.
Spectator Magazine, Raleigh NC.

Reviews for the CD "Just in Time"

A totally fabulous singing voice is the focus for this 7 track e.p. from singer/songwriter Heather Russell. Despite being compared to Kate Bush, I'd rather let Heather's music sit on its own merits.

There's some extremely different music here, starting off with the opening track "Just In Time", which is a simple melody & driven mostly by Heather's remarkable voice, while "When I Wish", starts off with a celtic sort of influence, still using that voice as the driving force.

The picks here for me come on two different tracks, "Mirror", which is apparently a remix called Anime, plus "Sonnet 29" in a 40oz Crew remix, some very savvy jungle, along with drum & bass they lure into Heather's world of remixes. I wish all music had the inspiration that's been put into this e.p.
hEARd Magazine, Sydney, Australia

With this release, regional talent Russell emerges as an immediate contender, crafting intelligent, folky songs with style and beauty. Piano work appears rigid and simplistic at first, but no more so than the beautiful simplicity of pop diva Tori Amos's more recent works. Guitars cascade and drums click along with nice shimmer aesthetics, providing nice support framework for Russell's charismatic vocals. Her trembling vocal style reminiscent of Natalie Merchant or even Tanya Donnelly (ex-Belly) sometimes pacing with deliberate timidness and sometimes breaking free with soaring potency. Even a pennywhistle appears, giving some songs an Irish texture, while folk guitar and twinkling piano keep the effort grounded in standard singer-songwriter territory... File under Tori Amos, Sinead O'Connor, 10,000 Maniacs.
Lucian Garrett, Indie File

(Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 whiskey bottles) The most obvious comparison for the sweet-voiced, piano-playing Russell is Dana and Karen Kletter, who have been getting all sorts of attention lately with their own sweet-voiced, piano-playing sister act. But where the Kletters have a distinct Yiddish influence and a remorseful tone, Russell is more Celtic-influenced and sprightly. Though Russell has a full backing band, she's at her best with little accompaniment other than her own piano and pennywhistle ("When I Wish" and her a capella rendition of Shakespeare's "Sonnet 29"). The guitar explosion after the first verse of "Mirror" is jarring and totally unnecessary. Also jarring, but in a more pleasant way, are two dance remixes tacked on at the end. Both tracks are a bit amateurish, though the remix of "Sonnet 29" gets going when the drum 'n bass beat kicks in. Still, each is proof of how universal Russell's voice really is.
Karen A. Mann, The Independent Weekly, Durham, NC

The disc's strengths are definitely its lush arrangements and strong melodies. The production is slightly thin throughout, which is too bad because the arrangements of the songs are often quite strong. A wide variety of styles are represented in the 7 tracks (which include 2 re-mixes) and a lot of inspiration is taken from literature (lyrics from Shakespeare, and, according to the web-page, inspiration drawn from fairy tales and The Arabian Nights). I'm particularly fond of the a cappella arrangement of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29. The vocals swoop and twirl in fascinating ways, pulling the lyrics along with them. It's completely reworked in the 40-oz Crew Mix, where lots of familiar sounds and rhythms are imaginatively melded with the vocal track to come up with something startlingly different take on the song.
Neal Copperman, The Ectophiles Guide to Good Music

Heather Russell comes to us out of Chapel Hill, the current top hot bed of new music, and brought with her, her own unique style. Her music is at its best when it is peaceful, unfortunately at times on the CD it jumps into remixes of a techno/disco thing that is just wrong for her. "When I Wish" is probably the CD's strongest track simply because it keeps things simple allowing her voice to fill the voids. Also it does have some nice pennywhistle work and is prettier then other tracks on the CD. "Just in Time" is also a solid track as it, just like "When I Wish," keeps things simple and focuses on her voice. Throughout the CD the use of keyboards and just the right tempo keep things interesting. On the downside the "Sonnet" and "Mirror" remixes by 40-oz Crew just seem wrong and take away from what otherwise is an ok work. Their electronic/dance versions of Heather Russell's efforts are at such a stark difference from her sound that it confuses the listener. And to me her strength is in her voice and the prettiness of the music, which just isn't captured in the remixes.
Dave Reid, 181.4 Degrees from the Norm

Heather’s voice, smooth, mellow and affected by the world. We could probably do with more of that and a bit less of her keyboards and then also a bit more of the trio of musicians backing her. I know this title probably refers to the rush to have this available for NXNE, where I met her and picked it up, so lets give her credit because this is good and the greater potential is obvious.
Tom "Tearaway" Schulte, Outsight, Royal Oaks, MI