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Album Details

• Artist: Kristin Hersh
• Album: The Grotto
• Label: 4AD
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-04-09

Kristin Hersh is getting dark in her old age. The Grotto is Kristin’s sixth solo album and it also marks her recent reunion with The Throwing Muses. We will address that album in a different review. This album is a deeply introspective album revealing a vulnerable Hersh but her voice is in fine form, albeit a little soft spoken. The Grotto starts out with “Sno Cat� setting the mood for the whole album. The secret to this album is the accompaniment of How Gelb (Giant Sand) and Andrew Bird (Bowl of Fire). Kristin takes care of all the guitar and vocal duties but Howe joins in on some songs with the piano and Andrew adds a spooky violin to the mix. Kristin wrote these songs while she was mourning a close family member. The grief she felt was brought out even more as she we carrying her fourth son, Bodhi. She gave birth to him last November. Now she has her most emotional and dark album on her hands. Songs like “Snake Oil� give a bit of hope in a dark album. There are many similarities to what Howe Gelb has worked on in the past and what Hersh is trying to do on The Grotto. Some fans will not like the direction that she took on this album, but anyone open to different things should find merits in the dark, depressing Cat Power-like songs on The Grotto. I would suggest taking it one song at a time, figure it out, and then move on.

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