Search - Kristin Hersh :: Learn to Sing Like a Star

Spicing up her solo work

CMad | Portland, OR | 01/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kristen's solo work is usually dark and a bit pensive, but for some reason the songs came out with a bit more push and drive for this solo effort. The Amazon review above nailed it pretty well. She, as always, shows great creativity, emotion, and layering in her songs that draw you in. Her voice is now more raw and powerful than in previous albums, but this is not a bad thing at all. Don't forget to check out her other bands - the hard charging 50 Foot Wave, and The Throwing Muses."

A carefully crafted yet compulsively delivered gem.

ST | New York City | 03/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The emo kids should lend an ear to Kristin Hersh if they want their music with dollops of misery.



It is never more eloquently done than on "Nerve Endings", the agonised lyrics set against uncomfortable chord changes, with only the elegant string arrangement to provide any balm.



"Getting up is what hurts," she wails on "Day Glo", and sings of being "twisted in slo-mo by angry water". (Having had the misfortune to name her last band 50 Foot Wave just before the Asian tsunami, and then mourning the flood disaster in New Orleans, Hersh's own home suffered a burst pipe so destructive that it used up the family savings and forced her to sell up.)

As Hersh's spiky work goes, this is less fraught, the sourness of that cracked voice balanced by the sweetness off the strings.

Still, it's never exactly easy listening."

As good as her other CD's

Nobody | 02/23/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"How's that for faint praise? Actually, truth be told, it's a little spare, thus the 3 stars, only six of these songs made my MP3 list, which now contains 79 songs, and could have more. The problem is that as fine as this music is, and no question it's far more worthwhile than 99% of the drek dumped on plastic daily, it's really more of the same. Good, sure, but is there any real growth from what she did on "Hips and Makers" all those years ago? I don't see it, in fact I'd rate that material higher.



So, as much as I like her music, isn't it time for her to move on to something else? She and her charms were wonderful, but maybe it's time to stick with a band, try to build an ensemble sound and see where it can go with a writing partner as an equal. Right now she's spreading her talent a bit thin, and it's starting to tear a bit."