REVIEW: Sara Henya's "Pop Goblin"
Ever heard of Sara Henya? Yea, I know, she’s criminally underrated right now at fifty monthly listeners on streaming. Who she is is a dream and folk pop artist and harp player from Philadelphia, PA who seems to have gotten her start on her YouTube channel and went from there. I personally was drawn to this record by the cover art alone but what I found was so much more.
Henya’s music is atmospheric in a way that the scenery she’s singing about in her bard-like presentation is a place she can just about transport you to. I can see myself at the pond on the first track and it isn’t just because of the sound of dripping water or bubbles popping, though I’d be lying if I said that didn’t help. There also seems to be some sort of narrative being told through these tracks but it’s fairly thin and hard to transcribe.
All of the fairytale aspects aside, Henya is just a general talent in both her harp playing and vocals; “Walk Through the Woods” is one of the best vocal performances I’ve heard in a good while. “Pancakes” is as sweet as its title and has harp work that I didn’t think possible but then again I suppose I don’t know many other harp players myself. Lyrically this is sort of put together as a picture book and as such can be a bit on the nose but I also think that’s sort of to the point. At one point she eggs the listener to guess her favorite flower as a “riddle” to go forward.
Can you guess mine? Go on, guess. There’s a hint on this page.
The song “Fae Court” is a colossal closer and is honestly only extended by its Marble Girl remix, which feels like so much more than a bonus track, it feels like a haunting reprise that only amplifies its place in the narrative. With it, like any good fairytale, the record ends feeling like a small piece broken off of a whole world, leaving us right where we need to be.
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