Hummingbird, Go!

Album Review

Stylistically, Theresa Andersson has not been easy to pin down as a recording artist. Although the Swedish vocalist/New Orleans transplant has recorded some torchy, jazz-influenced material, some people have described her as a roots rock/Americana/country-rock type of artist and compared her to folks like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Loveless, Nanci Griffith, and Victoria Williams — and, to be sure, those have been valid comparisons at times. Listeners who have had a hard time categorizing Andersson will find that she isn't any easier to categorize on Hummingbird, Go!, which finds her taking a somewhat psychedelic turn. Perhaps the best way to describe this 2008 release is "adult alternative pop/rock and folk-rock with soul and psychedelic influences." Tracks like "Birds Fly Away," "Locusts Are Gossiping," "Clusters," and "Na Na Na" have a hazy, spacy, dreamy quality; it's the sort of haziness that makes you feel like you have stepped into the aural equivalent of a David Lynch film. And according to the credits, this 36-minute CD was recorded in an unlikely place: Andersson's kitchen, where she had a band but made rhythmic use of things like wine glasses and beer bottles. But despite not being recorded in a conventional fashion — that is, in a recording studio or at a live gig — Hummingbird, Go! is not an exercise in strangeness for the sake of strangeness. Andersson brings a real sense of songcraft to the project, and many of her melodies are appealingly ethereal. Andersson doesn't have a huge voice; her vocals are on the thin side. But she knows how to make the most of what she has; that was evident on previous releases and continues to be evident on the surprisingly psychedelic-influenced Hummingbird, Go!