Hollie Rogers 'Everything’s Fine' review: Nothing’s Fine. Everything’s Fine. Hollie Rogers Gets It.

After her acclaimed album Criminal Heart, Hollie Rogers returns with a record that treats the daily grind with vignettes of fantasy, hope and humour. Album opener ‘Bad Woman’ arrives on deliciously dark chords before exploding into a snazzy, jazzy chorus — sexy, energetic, and delivered with the kind of witty turn of phrase that has been Rogers’ calling card across more than a decade of independent music-making.

Rogers is a proud independent artist, and it shows — not in any rough-edged, lo-fi sense, but in the confident, uncompromising nature of the music itself. Her lineage runs wide: Joan Armatrading’s soulful directness, Melissa Etheridge’s raw power, the sharp wordplay of Chris Difford, and something of the cabaret-inflected sophistication of Barb Jungr. At times chanson, at times pop-rock with a jazzy twist.

The album’s backstory gives it extra emotional weight. Following the raw heartbreak of Criminal Heart, Rogers got engaged to the very person who inspired it. For a while, life was good. Then came the mortgage, the shared loyalty cards, the tax returns — and a brilliant new album born from that tension between romance and the grinding mundaneness of adult life.

That push and pull runs through every track. ‘Good God’ is defiant and funny — “my socks ain’t matching” sits perfectly alongside “I got my phone, my keys and my misery.” Don’t say I didn’t warn you, this album is relatable! The cinematic ‘Spaceman’ reveals Rogers’ vocal power at its most tender and affecting, while ‘All For You’ strips things back to a piano-led intimacy that quietly stops you in your tracks.

Guest appearances from Elles Bailey and Beth Nielsen Chapman feel like genuine collaborations rather than star turns, and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra adds sweep without ever overwhelming Rogers’ voice, which remains grounded and real throughout.

Everything’s Fine is the soundtrack to the mundane chaos of everyday life, put to tape by an artist who can make you laugh and catch you off guard with a gut punch of emotion. A thoroughly honest, heartfelt and funny album from one of Britain’s most compelling independent voices.