Tanya Donelly
Beauty Sleep

Here she is again, the stepsister of Kristin Hersh with a past in the Throwing Muses, whom she had left for a brief stint with the Breeders (with Kim Deal) before forming Belly, her exclusive creation, with a great debut album, "Star" and a less impressive second episode, "King." Indeed, this second solo album is also less impressive than the previous one, that "Lovesongs for Underdogs" from 1997 that continued Belly's discourse, euphoric, melodic songs, perfect indie pop ("Pretty Deep", "The Bright Light") constructed like dreamy nursery rhymes that then exploded into euphoric hysteria. Beautiful. All of them. They thrill us every time. However, the new record takes another path, almost singer-songwriter slow songs, many collaborations, including Bill Janowitz of Buffalo Tom, dark, reverberated atmospheres, with excessive vocal virtuosity that at times recalls the 4AD label colleagues, the Cocteau Twins, with the marvelous and crazy enchantress Liz Fraser. This record does not satisfy us. It is more difficult, convoluted, far from the pop perfection of almost all of Donelly's productions. "The Shadow," on the other hand, seems like a Portishead song, starting with the ghostly drums... We prefer the previous "Lovesongs..." We look forward to her return soon with a new name and a great new debut.