One thing you have to say for Martha Wainwright -- you never have to wonder what shes thinking. The woman who wrote a song about her own father called Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole is blessed with fearless honesty on a level few possess, and if shes less blunt on 2021s Love Will Be Reborn, the emotional roller coaster that informed these songs is audible from front to back. 2012s Come Home to Mama was a beautiful but harrowing album inspired by the death of her mother, the premature birth of her child, and a new marriage that was having more than its share of problems. Love Will Be Reborn feels like a partial follow up, as it was written and recorded in the wake of Wainwrights subsequent divorce, and shes willing to show us her scars if were brave enough to look. Love Will Be Reborn doesnt wallow in anger or hopelessness, but Wainwright isnt afraid to clearly acknowledge them; the title tune weighs the need to believe that love and emotional healing will come again, though in reality she doesnt know how to make that happen, and most of these 11 songs mine similar territory. Pain and solace are the twin poles that guide these songs, and Wainwrights vocals capture a wealth of emotional detail; sounding a bit like Kate Bush without the comfort of fantasy to protect her, Wainwright rides over the melodies with a bold willingness to venture into the unexpected, and the dynamics of her voice as it weaves around the atmospheric arrangements is truly remarkable. And if Hole in My Heart largely deals with the heady excitement of new love, her look to the past not only complements the darker emotions of the present but offers prescient clues that she was too infatuated to ignore. Producer Pierre Marchand has given Wainwright all the room she needs to make herself understood while Thom Gill (on guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals), Josh Cole (on bass), and Phil Melanson (on drums) deliver accompaniment thats powerful and as efficient as it is atmospheric. One can only hope Martha Wainwright doesnt have to go through this much pain the next time she writes an album, but Love Will Be Reborn at least reminds us that she was able to build something remarkable out of all that chaos. ~ Mark Deming

Rovi