Without getting nearly the amount of fanfare she deserves, Juliana Hatfield is back with her 19th (!) solo album. Blood, out today via American Laundromat Records, is full of sharp melodies, crunchy riffs, and distinctive lyrical content. What's here might be her best album of originals in a decade.
"Gorgon" is natural pop, a reminder of what The Cardigans learned from Blake Babies, and it's the first really delightful number on Blood. "Had a Dream" marries a big riff up with sleek production touches, and airy keyboard figures, while "Chunks" takes things further into the realm of the harsh. The lyrics are full of violent imagery but the tune's as catchy as anything Hatfield's offered up in years. Elsewhere, "Mouthful of Blood" and "Nightmary" bounce and pop with an easy confidence. Both are real highlights of this record, and a neat mix of what Hatfield's done so well, for so long, with an interesting spin on the familiar forms of alt-rock (here updated for the 21st century).
The central conceit of Blood is the disconnect between the lyrics and their gruesome imagery and the loveliness of the hooks in the cuts here. What makes Juliana Hatfield such a legend is how easily she makes all of this seem so easy. Blood and the tracks here are sweet and fun, no matter how serious the content, or how raw the emotions described. And isn't the best indie rock always like that? Hatfield did similar things in Blake Babies and thankfully she's still doing it now.
Blood is out today via American Laundromat Records.
More details on Juliana Hatfield via the official website.
[Photo: David Doobinin]