Set for US release on July 27th, Tanya Donelly's third solo album, Whiskey Tango Ghosts, is truly a new departure for her. On this gorgeous set of songs the musical arrangements are boldly stripped-down, with the emphasis on her warm, resonant voice. "It was a deliberate decision to turn my vocals up. I used to wince at the sound of my own voice. This time I resisted the impulse to turn it down," says Tanya. "And I've moved away from criss-crossing melody lines. I wanted to keep this album streamlined, the simplest possible." From the solitary swing of “Divine Sweet Divide”, to the mellow Hammond organ of “The Center”, and the percussive “Story High”, Tanya has created a sensual, hypnotic album that is her most assured yet.
Recorded earlier this year near her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it features Tanya's husband Dean Fisher (ex-Juliana Hatfield) on guitar, bass and drums, Rich Gilbert (Frank Black and the Catholics) on pedal steel and Nashville guitar, and pianist Elizabeth Steen (Natalie Merchant). Though Tanya had the final veto, there are no production credits. "It was very fluid, everyone had input in that area," she says. Tanya's track record is impressive: a founder member of Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh, she left in 1991 to form the Breeders with Kim Deal. Soon after the Breeders' trailblazing debut, Pod, Tanya moved on to create her own group, Belly, and their 1993 debut album Star sold a million copies worldwide. They released a follow-up album, King, but by the mid-nineties Tanya wanted to leave the band format behind and branch out on her own. Her solo debut, Lovesongs For Underdogs, came out in 1997, to be followed by Beautysleep in 2002.
For Whiskey Tango Ghosts she explores new sounds, drawing on her love for Stephen Sondheim and country music to celebrate the simplicity of song and voice. She cites Lucinda Williams, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris as an influence, along with alt-country stars like Neko Case and Wilco. "I'm less afraid of country now. If I had a melodic chorus, I'd always write an ugly verse so it didn't sound too nice. Now I'm letting what comes come." Minimalist and melodic, each song is partly autobiographical, a reflection on where she is now. “Divine Sweet Divide”, for instance, is about "working the space between yourself and somebody else", while the spine-tingling “My Life As A Ghost” is about being a mother and "stepping out of the stream of youth culture", and “Golden Mean”, "finding the state of neither excess nor deficiency. Balance. My history is one of extremes. Too much drinking, no drinking…too much love, no love!" The sweet, languid melodies and sparse arrangements also reflect the atmosphere in which the album was made. "It was a really oppressive winter here; a frozen, quiet, weird winter. A horrible war, a horrible administration, a bleak, mean winter. This isn't the subject of the songs, but it is the tone."
There's also the combative undertow of “Whiskey Tango”, the joy and struggle of lifelong friendship in “Just In Case You Quit Me”, and a personal experience of Chaos theory with “Butterfly Thing”. Each track is self-contained, gently off-kilter and beautifully sung - a statement of love and life that Tanya will take on the road this summer. This is Tanya Donelly as you've never heard her; stepping away from the shield of dissonant rock guitar to calmly and confidently take centre stage.
Recorded earlier this year near her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it features Tanya's husband Dean Fisher (ex-Juliana Hatfield) on guitar, bass and drums, Rich Gilbert (Frank Black and the Catholics) on pedal steel and Nashville guitar, and pianist Elizabeth Steen (Natalie Merchant). Though Tanya had the final veto, there are no production credits. "It was very fluid, everyone had input in that area," she says. Tanya's track record is impressive: a founder member of Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh, she left in 1991 to form the Breeders with Kim Deal. Soon after the Breeders' trailblazing debut, Pod, Tanya moved on to create her own group, Belly, and their 1993 debut album Star sold a million copies worldwide. They released a follow-up album, King, but by the mid-nineties Tanya wanted to leave the band format behind and branch out on her own. Her solo debut, Lovesongs For Underdogs, came out in 1997, to be followed by Beautysleep in 2002.
For Whiskey Tango Ghosts she explores new sounds, drawing on her love for Stephen Sondheim and country music to celebrate the simplicity of song and voice. She cites Lucinda Williams, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris as an influence, along with alt-country stars like Neko Case and Wilco. "I'm less afraid of country now. If I had a melodic chorus, I'd always write an ugly verse so it didn't sound too nice. Now I'm letting what comes come." Minimalist and melodic, each song is partly autobiographical, a reflection on where she is now. “Divine Sweet Divide”, for instance, is about "working the space between yourself and somebody else", while the spine-tingling “My Life As A Ghost” is about being a mother and "stepping out of the stream of youth culture", and “Golden Mean”, "finding the state of neither excess nor deficiency. Balance. My history is one of extremes. Too much drinking, no drinking…too much love, no love!" The sweet, languid melodies and sparse arrangements also reflect the atmosphere in which the album was made. "It was a really oppressive winter here; a frozen, quiet, weird winter. A horrible war, a horrible administration, a bleak, mean winter. This isn't the subject of the songs, but it is the tone."
There's also the combative undertow of “Whiskey Tango”, the joy and struggle of lifelong friendship in “Just In Case You Quit Me”, and a personal experience of Chaos theory with “Butterfly Thing”. Each track is self-contained, gently off-kilter and beautifully sung - a statement of love and life that Tanya will take on the road this summer. This is Tanya Donelly as you've never heard her; stepping away from the shield of dissonant rock guitar to calmly and confidently take centre stage.
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