Juliana Hatfield 'How To Walk Away'

Juliana Hatfield, over ten years, made some consistently excellent singer-songwriter pop/rock albums that were undervalued by critics and largely ignored by the public. Whatever the reasons were for this, it is a fact. 1995's 'Only Everything' is her classic, a post-grunge album that was crushing but somehow celebratory and one of the finest records of the 90s. Other highlights included the raw, angry 'Bed' and the lush 'Beautiful Creature'. Then there were the albums that never were (if you see what I mean). 'God's Foot' should have kept up the momentum after 'Only Everything' but an ignorant and short-sighted record company scuppered this and her 'best-of' 'Gold Stars' contained enough brand new material for a fine album in its own right.

In the last few years things have changed slightly. 2005's 'Made In China' was a reaction to it's polished predecessor 'In Exile Deo' and was harsh and difficult to love. Hatfield is now releasing her music on her own label and this new album comes a couple of months before her eagerly awaited memoir 'When I Grow Up' which tells the story of her life in music.

'How To Walk Away' follows thematically similar ground to many of her previous albums; lost and fading love and loneliness. The music is more polished this time, the punky sound of 'Made in China' is almost completely absent and the songs are mainly mid-tempo with lots of harmonies and catchy choruses. Most of this is fine, you do feel that this is the type of song that Juliana could write in her sleep, just off the top of my head I can think of several songs from her back catalogue that could have slotted seamlessly into this album....'Cry In The Dark'...'Somebody Is Waiting For Me'...'We Will Rise Again' etc etc.

Nothing wrong with that, but there is nothing really new here either. 'The Fact Remains' offers an efficient take on an old theme, 'My Baby' is a familiar ballad with sparky lyrics ("you used to look into my eyes/ now we just have sex and watch TV") and 'Remember November' maintains Juliana's run of pretty much one heartbreaker on every album. It should be noted that her singing on this album is very assured and confident and she takes more risks with her vocals than on previous records, especially 'In Exile Deo' where she largely sounded on autopilot.

This is a good album which will please fans but not change the world. It has to be said though, I am really looking forward to reading her book. She has had a long and difficult career, must have some great stories to tell and we already know she is an excellent writer.

7.0

['How To Walk Away' is out now on itunes, or better still, you can buy it directly from Juliana at www.julianahatfield.com ]