Airstreams & Satellites

Airstreams & Satellites is a respectable mainstream singer/songwriter effort, though there aren't many traces of the country music that some of Starr's press would lead you to expect. What country's here is mostly in her occasional Mississippi vocal curl. The production stresses assertive electric guitars that sparkle without getting overbearing, and the melodies are usually in service of her wary songs about the thrills and spills of getting close (or too close) to the emotions of herself and others. For love is at times "Like a Drug" to her, as she sings in one track — not the first occasion that sentiment's been circulated in pop music, but at least she sounds like she believes it. If she's going to rock out, she's at her best when matching rousing, staunch riffs to songs of hope and encouragement, like "Hey Girl." The tunes with a more insouciant tone fall closer to the norm of early-21st century anthemic rock, which might be a good thing as far as getting her some commercial radio play, but didn't do much to make her stand out in a time when release schedules were full of efforts along the same lines. The gait does get folkier and more measured on songs like "Underneath the Wheel," "Runner-Up," and the title track, in which she sounds like she's cutting to something rootsier and more tenderly personal than you can hear on her more blustery tunes.