Kristin Hersh - Sky Motel (1999)

Kristin Hersh’s third solo album Sky Motel finds her picking up the
electric guitar again for a collection of mature, mercurial,
parallel-dimension pop. The album fuses the restraint of her acoustic work
with the lush textures of Throwing Muses’ later albums, adding Latin
percussion and keyboards for a further update on Hersh’s signature sound.

A subtle and layered album, Sky Motel’s pop songs create the most
immediately arresting moments. The album opener “Echo” pairs a jazzy
electric piano with Hersh’s sweetly abrasive harmonies, then explodes into
a riot of spiky guitars as she snarls lyrics like “I’m loving everybody/
hating everyone I see.” “Fog” and “A Cleaner Light” mine similar
territory, delivering the kind of angular, bouncy yet slightly menacing
guitar pop that made Muses albums like The Real Ramona and University
college rock favorites. Though the gentler songs on Sky Motel take more
time to reveal their charms, songs like “White Trash Moon,” “Costa Rica,”
“Caffeine,” and “Husk,” with their undulating guitars and quietly
compelling vocals, make the album increasingly rewarding with each listen.