Lucy Fitzgerald 
Kye Alfred Hillig has spent more than a decade earning his reputation as one of Tacoma’s most honest songwriters, and “Widowmaker Express” might be his most striking work yet. Out August 5, this record pulls from the fog and rust of the Pacific Northwest itself, with train whistles, waterfront taverns, and gray afternoons soaked into every song. The album grew out of a scary health moment that turned out to be a false alarm, but it left Hillig with a pile of hard questions about faith, mortality, and why we keep going anyway. He’s described the record as “a wrestling match with God, a breakup letter to the universe.”, and that line captures the whole thing well. These songs don’t stay locked inside his own head. They reach out, looking for reasons to hold onto other people even when everything feels uncertain.
Producer Daniel G. Harmann, a longtime friend and collaborator, wraps the songs in strings, lap steel, piano, and quiet textures that creep up on you after a few listens. Hillig said it best himself: Harmann builds “big beautiful rooms for the songs to live in.” The opener “Oh, Magic” hits hard right out of the gate with its portrait of absence. “Disease of the Heart” sits with grief and doubt, and “Coyote Skins” looks for a way to come out the other side of loss. “The Ghost Will Turn Around” is honestly one of my favorites here. There’s a stubborn kind of hope running through it that sticks with you long after it ends. “Indryd James” might be the most gutting song on the whole record, a quiet meditation on memory and letting go.
It all closes with lead single “On Small Wings”, and it’s a genuinely lovely way to end things, choosing grace after ten songs of grappling with doubt and grief. Ten albums into his career, Hillig sounds as sharp and unfiltered as ever. Go follow Kye Alfred Hillig wherever you listen to music, and get “Widowmaker Express” onto your playlist. This one rewards patience, so give it a real, full listen and let it sit with you.
Listening to songs so you don’t have to! Just kidding :D, you totally should. Music blogger by day, nurse by night
