Tanya Donelly : Lovesongs for Underdogs - 4AD 1997 (CAD 7008 CD)

The history If you've seen my music manifesto page, then you'll realise my enthusiasm for one of Tanya's former bands, Throwing Muses. Her previous band, Belly released two albums, the excellent "Star" and the smoothed out "King", both on 4AD in the UK. "King" was something of a disappointment, with the singles before the LP sounding a bit bland, then turning out to be amongst the liveliest material on the record. "Lovesongs for Underdogs" is Tanya's first solo release, although you wouldn't imagine that a third  Belly album would have sounded much different from this.

The record

Fortunately "Lovesongs" sees Tanya sounding a bit more, um, raucous in places than on her last outing. The songs are also much stronger. The album starts with the opening single "Pretty Deep", which gets things off to a flier. Next up "The Bright Light" is even better and the other obvious single on the album. After the two similar upbeat tracks to set the pace, the rest of the album is a lot more varied. "Landspeed Song" fails to fully live up to its name, but still rocks, whilst "Mysteries of the Unexplained" is more contemplative. "Lantern" features the heaviest guitars on the album but one of the best choruses. There's also this great bit where the music stops and then a piano comes in and you think it's the next song before 'Shine shine on me' tells you it's not in the most euphoric way possible. "Acrobat" is reminiscent of Kritsin Hersh's first solo album, particularly with the strings in the background, and a return towards the more otherworldly moments of "Star".

"Breathe Around You" is the other 'heavy' track on the album, again mid-paced and it's followed by the uptempo "Bum" from her first solo EP. "Clipped" is one of those brooding openings which erupt into the chorus. "Goat Girl" is perhaps the weakest track on the album, before the two closing tracks, "Manna" and "Swoon" which close the album on a more reflective note.

If this seems like a matter of fact report of the album, then that's my fault. If you were put off by "King" then ignore that. "Lovesongs" is far better, indeed it's one of the best albums I've heard recently. It's also, perhaps surprisingly, a bit of grower. To me it sounded fine at first, but on repeated plays the less obvious tracks improve whilst the singles remain fresh. If you as yet haven't experienced any other TD material, then this is the prefect introduction. Buy now!

Tanya Index