Tara Jane O'Neil

In the Sun Lines

BY James KeastPublished Nov 1, 2001

Understated and melancholy, layered yet minimal, beautiful, entrancing, quiet and insistent: all these disparate elements weave themselves into this sophomore effort from Louisville (via New York) songwriter Tara Jane O'Neil. Now far from the Slint-y influence of her time in Louisville stalwarts Rodan, but retaining some of the mellow chill of a more recent stint in the Sonora Pine, O'Neil is shedding the ill-fitting skins of post-rock and somnambulant mood music to carve her own niche. In the Sun Lines is, in the best possible way, an album that strikes you differently at different times - sometimes coming across as petulantly moody, at others hopefully optimistic, first charmingly accessible, then maddeningly obtuse. It's a testament to her skills and her choice of companions (including players from King Kong and Eleventh Dream Day, Rodan, Ida, Rachel's, Hall of Fame and more). Lonely heart music that makes you feel a little less lonely.
(Quarterstick)

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