Tanya Donelly - This Hungry Life

Genre rock Publisher Eleven Thirty Records External Links Official Tanya Donelly Website Official Eleven Thirty Records Website

This Hungry Life, the follow-up to Tanya Donelly's 2004 album Whiskey Tango Ghosts, was recorded live in an abandoned hotel in Vermont. Yes, really.

Bereft of studio tricks, Donelly acquits herself rather well; her voice is rawer than in previous times, but still full of emotion and strength (the best example here being the politically-charged "Kundalini Slide"). The highlight is the sweet melancholy of "Littlewing", a little song from a mother to a child, melancholic determination cutting through the sweetness ("I'd give up everyone/ I'd give up every one of my days/To spare you one moment's pain").

You do have to wonder whether the record would have sounded better from a proper studio treatment; Donelly's voice isn't as strong, as say, Neko's, and the live element doesn't really add all that much to the proceedings beyond a rougher voice, except for some applause at the end of the songs.

Still, This Hungry Life is a fine collection of songs even if it doesn't quite reach the heights that Ms. Case can achieve. If you're hankering for a bit more country, you won't go wrong here.