Kristin Hersh

Former Throwing Muse and current solo big shot Kristin Hersh sounds like an indie rock Marianne Faithfull on her 2007 offering, delivering pinpoint lyrics with a scratched-up, weary voice. "Getting up is what hurts," from "Day Glow," says it all. The tempos are lumbering and depressed, with uniformly excellent string arrangements. Even folks who've been ignoring Hersh and her rep for years will want to check out Learn To Sing Like a Star. The careening waltz that opens the album is enough to make anyone a believer.

The title is a joke: at forty, Kristin Hersh has a voice that's worn as hell -- all
two-packs-a-day rasp and vinegary bite. On her seventh solo album, the former singer for
poetry-addled alt-rockers Throwing Muses finds a fitting counterpart to that somewhat
disturbing voice in largely dark, largely acoustic songs that toss in string arrangements and
often work up smart, stormy tumult. Though Hersh outfits the waltz-y "Ice" with... More >