CD Review: Juliana Hatfield, 'How to Walk Away'

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I HAVE SOME catching up to do with Juliana Hatfield.

In 1992 I purchased her solo debut, "Hey Babe," on cassette during an excursion to Montgomery Mall. At the time Hatfield was 24, but she wrote about themes plenty familiar to my eighth grade self: poor self-esteem, neglect by crushes and generalized angst.

It turns out those songs, like those feelings, have stuck with me. I find I can still recite every lyric to "Everybody Loves Me but You," and it only takes a traffic sign to bring "No Outlet" to the forefront of my consciousness, sometimes for days on end.

Nonetheless, by high school I had forsaken Juliana. Her breakout hit, "My Sister," seemed juvenile after I discovered riot grrl, and her cloying guest role on "My So-Called Life" sealed the deal.

Sixteen years later, has either one of us grown up much?

On her latest solo CD, "How to Walk Away" (Ye Olde Records), Hatfield's vocals certainly sound more mature. Her voice has always had a distinctive thin, little girl quality which can be precious in high doses. She uses her higher registers judiciously, either to highlight moments of vulnerability or to contrast with male guest vocalists. It makes a particularly appealing counterpoint with the gravelly rasp of Psychedelic Furs vocalist Richard Butler on "This Lonely Love."

Lyrically Hatfield seems to have progressed as well. The first track, "The Fact Remains," could be a sequel to her 1992 composition "Forever Baby," in which Hatfield professed undying devotion to a drunken loser. Those of us who experimented with variations on this model will recognize the resigned wisdom in the chorus, "Then it was over / and I will never be the same / I finally wised up / But the fact remains / I stayed too long." That last line is worth repeating, and Hatfield does.

Although Hatfield has tried out acoustic balladry and sloppy lo-fi on past releases, "How to Walk Away" finds her returning to the relatively polished mid-tempo pop-rock of "Hey Babe." Hatfield has learned a few new tricks. Her guitar playing has developed, sounding downright bluesy on "Just Lust." "This Lonely Love" manages to integrate a jaunty piano hook, swirling violin and the aforementioned harmonizing into a danceable rocker.

But not all of these innovations work.

The drum machine on "Such a Beautiful Girl" may be intended as a concession to modernity, but it's just disconcerting. Excessive keyboards, too much falsetto and slick production render piano ballad "Remember November" saccharine to the point of nauseating.

I'll confess I'm more interested in reading Hatfield's forthcoming memoir, "When I Grow Up," than in listening to "How to Walk Away" on repeat. It's a perfectly respectable offering, but it's also a reminder that while Juliana Hatfield may be older and slightly wiser, she's not as changed as she might like to think.

Not unlike someone else I know.

» Iota, 2832 Wilson Blvd.; with The Spoils of NW, Tue., Sept. 9, 8:30 p.m., $15; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)

Written by Express contributor Meg Zamula

Photo by Jonathan Stark