Kristin Hersh: Learn To Sing Like A Star : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

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 a great slo-mo chorus, tunecraft isn't exactly her strength, and sometimes the album slips into haziness. But the best songs are unsettling in a good way: The haunting, plaintive "Sugar Baby" builds to a cathartic climax, and "Under the Gun" conjures a long night filled with fever dreams. Like a Star proves Hersh can rock powerfully; if she had some stronger material, she might be able to make a truly killer record.