A Loon, by Kristin Hersh

I rarely enjoy solo projects of the memembers of my favorite bands. However, when I stumbled into the Strings EP (1994) by Kristin Hersh (as you probably know, the master mind behind Throwing Muses) I bought it because
1) I thought it was a unique chance to get it (and it was, I haven't seen the EP ever again)
2) I have been in love with the Muses sickly, at least during two periods of my life, when I was 14-15 and for the past 8 months.
So I found it in a special sale at El Péndulo and I bought it that same moment, during a particularly rainy summer eight years ago.
The dramatic strength in this first track reminds me of those rainy afternoons, sitting with Grandfather, reading the newspaper, sipping coffee and this CD in my walkman. It makes me think of Hersh, angry with her step sister, Tanya Donnelly who recently had left the band (Donnelly wrote some of the best Muses' tracks during 1985-1991); not knowing what direction the band would take after The Real Ramona; fighting, as usual, against a world that has never understood her. And still, she sings about an obsessed lover. The lyrics are powerful, but what really makes it so strong is the viola leading the song almost entirely. The voice, as usual, fragile, trembling but straightforward. It all ends, with the cello imitating a falling leaf.