The Grotto

The simultaneous release of this fifth solo album and a new self-titled set by her reformed cult college-rock heroes Throwing Muses only serves to illuminate the very different sides of her unique talent. While the Muses still offer a restless but infectious alt-pop, The Grotto highlights the dark, stark and folky side of Hersh's muse. Acoustic guitar mingles with doomy cello on downbeat but graphic conversations with various troubled souls (many residing in her own head), and the overall effect resembles the more pastoral and insular moments of REM (Hersh worked with Michael Stipe on 1994 solo debut Hips and Makers). Nevertheless, the most memorable tunes seem to have been given to the Muses this time around, and The Grotto's bleak ambience and uniformity of sound makes it her most disappointing solo outing to date. Diehard fans, though, will continue to invest time in Hersh's unwavering integrity and intensity. --Garry Mulholland