Hope Sandoval was the sleepy voice behind Mazzy Star in the ’90s. On
her second album with the Warm Inventions, she’s still a calming
presence, floating through 11 songs about flowers, birds and other
serene subjects. Not that it matters much; she could be singing about
sautéing an ex-boyfriend and it would still sound like a lullaby
leaving her lips. And that’s part of Through the Devil Softly‘s problem: Every song plays out with the same crawling
rhythm, the same hushed tone, the same soothing unspooling.
Sandoval never breaks out of her comforting little bubble, caressing
the corners of songs like “Blanchard” and “Sets the Blaze” as the band
tags along with brushed cymbals, acoustic guitars and the occasional
harmonica. It’s all very atmospheric and peaceful, just the way
Sandoval likes it. But it’s so flimsy, it comes dangerously close to
drifting into the ether — far, far away from any sort of
grounding. — Gallucci
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2009.
