In the Maybe World
In the three years since 2003'sLullaby for Liquid Pig,singer-songwriter Lisa Germano found both a comfortable new home for her recording career (Swans leader Michael Gira's Young God label) and the most challenging topic to engage her muse yet: death in all its various incarnations, be they physical, spiritual or intellectual. Whether celebrating her father's successful open heart operation ("Too Much Space"), grieving the passing of a beloved pet cat that's been the focus of several earlier songs ("Golden Cities") or lamenting the musical vacuum left by the tragic death of Jeff Buckley a decade past ("Except For the Ghosts"), Germano's tales flow as if from a dream state, cast in a suitably ethereal sonic landscape that's graced here by the presence of Smiths/The The/Morrisey guitarist Johnny Marr. Given the subject matter, it's no surprise to find her wit notably subdued, yielding an album whose spirit can seem as delicate as its heart is bleak.-- Jerry McCulley