Lilly Hiatt Forever
Released Jan 31, 2025 New West Records, LLC
Established consensus 5 professional reviews Updated Aug 27, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Lilly Hiatt's Forever arrives as a sunlit, slightly psych-tinged ode to love, family and the small certainties of domestic life.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
Hidden Day
1 critic mention
“the powerful, majestic opener, "Hidden Day” — PopMatters
Thoughts
1 critic mention
“Forever closes with "Thoughts", a meditation on change and the passage of time” — PopMatters
Shouldn't Be
1 critic mention
“she sings on the Shirley Manson/ Garbage crunch of "Shouldn’t Be": "I hate when you leave me on my own / I start spinning out / But I shouldn’t be.” — PopMatters
Full critic consensus
Lilly Hiatt's Forever arrives as a sunlit, slightly psych-tinged ode to love, family and the small certainties of domestic life. Critics agree the record balances romantic bliss and nostalgia with warm, fuzz-soaked production, and the consensus suggests Hiatt has crafted one of her most emotionally direct collections. Across five professional reviews the album earned a 79/100 consensus score, a sign that reviewers broadly praised its tonal cohesion and lyrical intimacy.
Reviewers consistently point to the album's psychedelic textures and evocative close-ups of family life as its emotional core. Standout tracks highlighted by critics include “Hidden Day”, whose hypnotic pulse and majestic vocals anchor the record, and the tender closer “Thoughts”, which folds voicemail fragments into a meditation on time and kinship. Other moments such as “Shouldn't Be”, “Somewhere” and the playful- KWik- conjuring “Kwik-E-Mart” add variety while keeping the themes of love and domesticity in clear focus.
While some reviewers noted that the album leans heavily into its purple haze of sound, making a few arrangements feel indulgent, the professional reviews largely reward Hiatt's willingness to marry sleeker pop production with heartland storytelling. The critical consensus positions Forever as a warmly recommended listen for those curious about the best songs on Forever and what critics say about Lilly Hiatt's latest work, with particular praise reserved for “Hidden Day” and “Thoughts”.
Below, the full reviews parse where the record lands in Hiatt's catalog and whether Forever ranks among her most compelling releases.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Hidden Day
Shouldn't Be
Ghost Ship
Somewhere
Evelyn's House
Forever
Man
Kwik-E-Mart
Thoughts
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Lilly Hiatt sounds utterly in love on Forever, and the record’s best songs - notably “Hidden Day” and “Thoughts” - carry that romantic bliss with an irresistible, hypnotic pulse. The reviewer revels in the album’s purple haze of sound, where psychedelic textures and fuzz-soaked vocals make “Hidden Day” feel both powerful and majestic. At the same time, closing cut “Thoughts” crystallizes the album’s themes of time and family with a tender voicemail cameo that seals the record’s emotional stakes. For listeners asking what the best tracks on Forever are, these moments stand out as the clearest statements of Hiatt’s vision and feeling.
Key Points
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The best song, "Hidden Day", stands out for its majestic opener status and hypnotic pulse.
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The album’s core strengths are its romantic lyrical focus, psychedelic-tinged production, and family-rooted tenderness.
Themes
