Maximum minimal riot Americana from the deep forest.
Kristin Hersh is undoubtedly one of the hardest working women in the rock business: With her bands Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave, she has released very good albums in the last two years, as can be seen in Marita Stocker’s documentary “Rock Chicks – I Am Not Female To You”. you can see her traveling around the USA as a tireless solo singer/songwriter and performing in small clubs. The urge to produce excessive output is just as much a part of Hersh as recurring psychological breakdowns, which she deals with by taking time out in the wilderness.
Hersh’s new solo record is the essence of a long road trip with her youngest son (she has four in total). A street sign from a second-hand shop served as a mental guide and became the album title: CLEAR POND ROAD sounds like a chamber piece from a log cabin in the middle of the forest, the campfire is still glowing, the first birds are starting to chirp in the distance. Unlike Hersh’s band albums, there are no violent loud-soft contrasts here, no aggressive shouting. The songs’ instrumentation is as minimal as possible: cello, guitar, glockenspiel – and Hersh’s voice, which now sounds almost as scratchy as Marianne Faithfull.
“St. “Valentine’s Day Massacre” comes with a deceptively dreamy melody, “Thank You, Corner Blight” builds up to an eerie Americana vision with threatening strings. Dandelion” draws its intensity from the interplay of the audibly plucked guitar and Hersh’s vocals, which are themselves in a quiet tone are of unbelievable intensity. A quiet record, but not a soundtrack to relax.