Lovesongs for Underdogs - 1997
It's easy to get jaded after ten years in the music industry. Donelly
has recorded eight albums for three different groups (Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly) and she's still only 31. Younger than Louise Wener and ten times more prolific than Justine
Frischmann, it wouldn't be exactly Earth-shattering if this, her debut solo album, reeked of cynicism. But
even after a decade of slogging, she still joyfully declares, "Don't you want to live forever? / I do, I do, I
do."
And if that ain't paradox enough - for someone who's recently plighted
her troth, Lovesongs For Underdogs is pretty down on the concept of lovin' it up. Donelly has this neat
trick of writing beautifully anguished songs on the folly of falling in love and combining them with
headrush guitars and gleeful memories, as on 'Pretty Deep' and 'Landspeed Song'. While the outcome is as
oddly life-affirming as Lovesongs such contradictions are likely to remain welcome. -- Sarra Manning in Select magazine (Oct 97)
