Kristin Hersh He recorded his name in the chronicles of the North American indie scene of the nineties, with that explicit and forceful spirit that he exhibited while leading Throwing Muses. However, the vocalist has spent some time focusing on introspective albums with which she, yes, manages to transmit as many or more sensations than she did when she, for the purpose, used explicit tools. That turns out to be the inexcusable gift of the North American, possessor of the ability to empathize with the listener based on the type of abrasive honesty that her songs often exude.
Hersh is also in a good moment, and after more than notable albums such as “Wyatt At The Coyote Palace” (Overlook, 16) and, above all, “Possible Dust Clouds” (Fire, 18), now comes the present “Clear Pond Road”. A logical continuation in which the vocalist once again expresses feelings and, for the umpteenth time, manages to resonate with the listener thanks to well-measured compositions that rely on an apparent discretion of forms as a mode of incision. A movement that she knows how to handle, especially when she accompanies it with an inspired set of songs of the type she concerns us with.
Ten new pieces raised on minimalist wicker material, above all, on acoustic or naked guitar and the (at the same time penetrating and realistic) voice of the author. Some additional complement, in the distance, seems to be the option chosen to finish off a play in which nothing, absolutely nothing, dares to detract from the songs themselves and the stories they hold behind them. “Clear Pond Road” It is an album developed with that absence of immediacy of those who no longer have anything to prove nor to lose, at the vital rhythm that their own universe can set.
“Clear Pond Road” confirms the state of form of Kristin Hersh, one of those artists who may not yet have been granted the status she really deserves, nor may she have all the recognition provided by that incorruptible identity. A woman who has not only dealt with her mental problems – it is recommended to read her heartbreaking autobiography “Rat Girl” (Alpha Decay, 12) – but has also known how to reinvent itself on a creative level. The one in which she never betrayed herself, avoiding succumbing to any type of fashion or external pressure.