[review 2007: crimes and misdemeanours]

If there’s one thing that was slightly frustrating about this year from a writer’s perspective, it’s that even the bad albums weren’t all that bad. It’s hard to rip apart an album that you dislike mostly because it’s not good enough to love. And so even though I’m writing about Kristin Hersh’s sixth album right after Rilo Kiley’s unfortunate mess of genre experiments gone awry, Learn to Sing Like a Star is really quite a bit better than Under the Blacklight. Maybe some explanation is in order.

A lot of my favourite artists put out new albums this year, and if you’re like me your relationship to each artist is at a different stage in the life cycle. Maybe you’re still in the honeymoon phase for some; for others, it’s more like a steady marriage; and then there are some where you’re about seven seconds from admitting you’re no longer in love. So it’s entirely predictable that some of those albums by some of those favourite artists of mine will end up falling flat, even if they’re perfectly serviceable records. Maybe you’ve moved on, or maybe they’ve moved on, or maybe it’s a combination of both; whatever the case, the two of you are no longer right for each other.

And so, while Kristin Hersh has made a perfectly serviceable album, with a couple of very fine songs in the mix, it’s apparent to me that I will never enjoy Learn to Sing Like a Star the same way I did Strange Angels or Sky Motel, or even Sunny Border Blue. And though Learn to Sing Like a Star is an admirable return to form after The Grotto, it’s just not enough for me any more.

This is especially odd for me to say, considering that the last Throwing Muses album and 50 Foot Wave’s first album, Golden Ocean, are some of my favourite Kristin Hersh releases. In fact, if either band decides to put out another album—though I don’t expect one from Throwing Muses ever again—I’ll be right there to let Hersh and company rock my face off. Maybe the reason why those harder-rocking albums sit better with me than Hersh’s recent solo output is because no matter how the albums change, I can’t shake the feeling that it’s all been done before. With Learn to Sing Like a Star Hersh mostly ditches the electric guitar but keeps the more vigorous songwriting. The result is a sort of acoustic-guitar rock album, with a string section and a piano backing most of the tracks. Actually, it might even be more accurate to have it the other way around: a cello-and-violin rock album, with an acoustic guitar and a piano backing most of the tracks. It’s the string section that gives the album its particular character versus the rest of Hersh’s catalogue, at least.

That instrumental difference aside, however, I’m hard-pressed to say what differentiates this particular set of songs from the other Hersh albums. And perhaps, in lieu of any other good reasons, that’s the problem with Learn to Sing Like a Star. Sky Motel I remember vividly, even if it’s only got about as many good tracks as this album does. Maybe Learn to Sing Like a Star just needs some time to soak into my consciousness, to take its rightful place besides the other albums. But right now, the album just feels a bit too cluttered and a bit too bland to leave much of an impression.