Jana Hunter – There’s No Home

Jana Hunter – There’s No Home / 2007 Gnomonsong / 15 Tracks / http://www.janahunter.tk / http://www.gnomonsong.com / Reviewed 22 June 2007

“Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom” was the last Jana Hunter CD that I had the chance to review, and while it feels like only yesterday I review it, it is in reality over a year and a half since I heard something from Hunter eirself. “Babies” is a track that shows a much more cohesive sound for Hunter than was previously heard. What was a focus point to eir last album was the vocals of Hunter eirself. This time, it feels as if the instrumentation and the vocals themselves all try to work together to create something more. This results in something that has a more contemporaneous sound, and could really break Hunter in to the big time if given the proper opportunity.

This fuller sound is present throughout the vast majority of tracks on “There’s No Home”. While it does not represent a complete sea change for Hunter, it shows an evolution that makes the resulting disc that much more compelling. “Vultures” is another change made by Hunter, even if the overall sound of the track is not that far away from the rest of the tracks on “There’s No Home”. The major change during this track has to be the inclusion of a more lounge and surf song to the track, something that is highlighted further by the very atmospheric and natural sound that starts off the following track, “Movies”. The constant variations on a theme is what continually keeps “There’s No Home” in my car. The tracks themselves do not espouse completely different genres or influences, but Hunter changes enough around in each track to keep things interesting.

This lack of major changes on “There’s No Home” creates a sense of continuity throughout the disc and makes the resulting album that much stronger. “Regardless” is perhaps the strongest track on “There’s No Home”, because it allows Hunter to go and create an intense guitar line that links together the past and present of alternative music. Hunter has allowed eir music to evolve in the last few years, and with “There’s No Home” makes it seem as if there are 100 different directions that ey can take with the next few albums of material. Give this and “Blank Unstaring Heirs” a good listen and chances are strong that they will be worth a purchase. What I would personally like to see next is a live album of Hunter’s recordings, just to get that aspect of eir.

Top Tracks: Oracle, Regardless

Rating: 6.5/10