Whirl

Michelle McAdorey's career has been characterized by a series of false starts and dead ends, for she had two bands that gained relative success, Corect Spelling in the 1980s and Crash Vegas in the 1990s. Her solo debut is in ways perhaps exactly what she needed, an entrancing collection of songs from a performer still aware of the difference between resting on laurels and pursuing the muse. Opening song "Mona" sets the stage clearly enough — where most performers with her age and experience might have settled for something gently ruminative over one acoustic guitar, here McAdorey delivers a soaring vocal over a hypnotic, halfway to drone arrangement. Credit to her frequent collaborator Eric Cheneaux for his excellent electric guitar work throughout the album, something that provides a moody bite somewhere between third album Velvet Underground and late Talk Talk. Whirl from there takes its own path, building out of the end of Crash Vegas into an even more involved, unexpected sound, often steering away completely from percussion in favor of letting the guitars set the pace. Melodica at points acts as a or the lead instrument, as on "Your Luck Is Never What..." and especially the trippy Disney-song-goes-wrong "Spell It Out With Stars," adding further to the inventive and at points unsettling atmosphere. Sometimes McAdorey lets herself sink into the mix a bit, as on the title track, blending in with the electric chime; elsewhere she almost suggests something anthemic (the chorus to the smartly titled "On a Friend's Being Insulted") without giving into a full fist-pumping stomp. The more conventional rock-band numbers like "Morocco" don't feel run-of-the-mill as a result — the players follow the song and McAdorey's performance instead of overwhelming it.