Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is a whisper that floats through the world that is often indecipherable, that is infinite and yet never seems to be allowed to begin, it is the whisper of creative passion; not something that really comes out in a blaze of glory, but instead sits in the soul and waits, sending out the random pulse like a signal from a far off planet’s inhabitants wanting to make contact with humanity, it is often undetected, sometimes gleaned at, but all the while wanting to be embraced like a child on its first day breathing air and reacting to stimuli.

It is in the capturing of this pulse that Kristin Hersh has found a way to listen to a kind of beyond, certainly one that seems alien in a world hell bent of finding more exotic ways to destroy itself.

In Wyatt at the Coyote Palace, the tension blends with the suggestive, reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, declaring a brutal honesty such as Carole King or the Wilson sisters or playing with fire in the same tones beloved by Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, it is a tension that sparkles with energy and yet is soft enough to know that rage and beauty does not always have to announce itself as a bang, in your face expression, sometimes it just has to be a whisper.

With an abundance of tracks in which the listener can truly get their musical teeth into, Kristin Hersh has continued the excellent work that has become a staple of her fans heart’s content and in songs such as Wonderland, Killing Two Birds, American Copper, Some Dumb Runaway, Cooties, Shaky Blue Can and Hemmingway’s Tell that earlier thought of the great song writer comes flooding into view; it emerges time and time again, the delicate warmth with the undercurrent of ice cold fury, and it is one that is hardy, resilient and immune to the possible overthrow that befalls many as they seek out to report on the female journey.

Wyatt at the Coyote Palace is an album that requires dedication, but one that bestows great wealth upon the listener when the journey is completed, not ahead or behind Ms. Hersh, but side by side at the final hurdle, crossing it together, and one that comes with a kind of mutual understanding. Simply Beautiful!

Ian D. Hall