Natalie Merchant – Motherland

Natalie Merchant
Artist: Natalie Merchant
Title: Motherland
Label: Elektra
Rating: 5/10

Where has the ethereal one been? Working on Motherland it would seem. Did Natalie Merchant take enough time to put together a classic album or did she need to spend more time on crafting?

“This House Is On Fire” is interesting, but it doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. Another interesting track is “Put The Law On You”, as Merchant takes on some blues. For every interesting song, there are also those that aren’t quite good. “Golden Boy” is tiresome. “The Ballad Of Henry Darger” is Tori Amos-like and is too insecure.

“Motherland” sounds all too familiar. It makes it hard to figure out whether it’s good on its own or good because it sounds like something else Merchant has sung successfully before. “Tell Yourself” also sounds all too familiar, but not for the good in it.

Running from the devil is Merchant on “Build A Levee”. This is the one track where you’ll feel some connection, some soul, and real inspiration.

For much of Motherland, Merchant is fine with taking the tortoise’s pace, still hoping to win the race. But here it grows so tired. The album seems to last a lifetime and then some. Motherland has its good, but too much of it is average to bad.

+ rae gun


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.