Shirley Hurt — Shirley Hurt

Trust me, I’ve had a lot of amazing, incredible things happen this year. And somehow, lately, I just want to curl up with music that focuses on licking your wounds. Shirley Hurt’s self-titled album provides a good soundtrack for that. Hurt’s voice is melodious, smoky, intriguingly textured — serving as a foundation around which the spare, muscular music spins.

Shirley Hurt is pulsating with hypnotic rhythms. Each song is a spare construction, with each instrument layered on with distinct voices. Hurt’s lyrics are at times recriminating, at others vulnerable, often a grimacing combination of sweetnees, warmth, and aloofness.

“Problem Child” encapsulates these strange bedfellows, grounded in a disjointed beat that Hurt lands on with the grace of a circling bird. Even as Hurt condemns a culture that is restrictive, she exudes an intense love for the kinds of children who turn away from it.

Hurt’s use of repetition invites us to consider the meanings of our words and experiences as our life carries us through ever-widening rotations. When we come back to that moment at a later point, whether in life or in Hurt’s songs, we always have new information, a lens to give these moments new meaning. The album might feel simplistic at first blush, but it has a funny way of sneaking up on you.

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