Stella Donnelly Love And Fortune
Stella Donnelly's Love And Fortune arrives as a quietly insistent statement of renewal and reckoning, a record drawn toward intimacy and calm reflection rather than theatrical gestures. Across three professional reviews the consensus score sits at 80/100, and critics consistently point to a meditative minimalism and mature songwriting that lets small, vulnerable moments accumulate into emotional weight.
Reviewers agree that the best songs on Love And Fortune are those that foreground Donnelly's lyrical clarity and restrained arrangements. “Feel It Change” emerges as the album's clear centerpiece in several accounts, mapping a slow decline of love with composure, while “Year of Trouble” and “Being Nice” are praised for their frankness and economy. DIY Magazine and others single out “Baths” and “W.A.L.K” as standout tracks too, the former a vocals-only proof of emotional directness and the latter a quietly blossoming tune that offers brief optimism amid uncertainty.
While critics celebrate the record's compassion, intimacy, and reflective focus on impermanence, some note that the restrained palette can make the pacing feel deliberate rather than immediate. Still, the professional reviews suggest Love And Fortune is worth listening to for those who value vulnerability and self-discovery in songwriting, a homecoming of sorts that cements Donnelly's growth as a songwriter and leaves several lingering, quietly unforgettable tracks ready to be revisited.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Baths
1 mention
"‘Baths’ is case in point, a vocals-only track"— DIY Magazine
W.A.L.K
1 mention
"‘W.A.L.K.’, which starts slowly, quietly and deliberately, before bursting into optimistic life"— DIY Magazine
Year of Trouble
2 mentions
"On the piano ballad “Year of Trouble,” she processes her pain quietly"— No Ripcord
‘Baths’ is case in point, a vocals-only track
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Standing Ovation
Being Nice
Feel It Change
Baths
Year of Trouble
Please Everyone
W.A.L.K
Friend
Ghosts
Love and Fortune
Laying Low
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
There is a quiet glow at the heart of Love and Fortune, where Stella Donnelly lets songs circle and sing rather than shout, and that restraint makes the best tracks sing out. The album’s clear centrepiece, “Feel It Change”, maps love’s slow decline with calm insight, while “Standing Ovation” and “Being Nice” show how fragility and wit can coexist. In the same softly lit register, “Ghosts” plumbs absence with aching lines, and the title track reframes loss as a strange kind of renewal. This is the record of an artist coming to terms with impermanence, and those best songs - the tracks that linger - are what make it quietly unforgettable.
Key Points
-
“Feel It Change” is best because it sits at the album’s heart and maps love’s decline with calm insight.
-
The album’s core strengths are restrained, intimate songwriting and emotionally grounded production that foregrounds Donnelly’s voice.
Themes
Critic's Take
Stella Donnelly turns inward on Love And Fortune, and the best songs are the quietly devastating ones. “Year of Trouble” stands out where, on the piano ballad, Donnelly processes pain into a stark confession, while the compact “Friend” condenses bittersweet nostalgia into under two minutes. Lighter moments like “Feel It Change” and the Cranberries-evoking “W.A.L.K.” serve as the album's brief reprieves, making them among the best tracks on Love And Fortune for showing her melodic warmth amid introspection.
Key Points
-
“Year of Trouble” is best for its quiet piano and stark, confessional lyric that crystallizes the album's emotional core.
-
The album's core strengths are its intimate, understated arrangements and Donnelly's candid, elegiac songwriting.
Themes
mu
Critic's Take
Joe Goggins writes with warm clarity that Stella Donnelly's Love And Fortune finds its best songs in intimate honesty, notably “Baths” and “W.A.L.K”. He singles out “Baths” as a vocals-only case in point and praises “W.A.L.K.” for starting quietly before bursting into optimistic life, making them among the best songs on Love And Fortune. The review frames these tracks as emblematic of an album that sounds uncertain and methodical, which is precisely what makes the best tracks resonate. Goggins concludes that this is Stella's most expressive and vulnerable work to date, and that maturity in songwriting yields a lovely, reflective listen.
Key Points
-
The best song, notably "Baths", is best for its stark, vocals-only exposure of feeling.
-
The album's core strengths are mature, expressive songwriting and a balance of melodic indie rock and meditative minimalism.