By James Keller
Some musicians don’t change all that much, and when they don’t, critics complain. They call them unoriginal, untalented and uninspired. But what if what they started with was good in the first place? What if it was great?
Such is the dilemma with Lisa Loeb’s new disc. Musically, Hello Lisa’s fantastic. Her blend of acoustic pop-folk has never been better; her lyrics have never been simpler and more clever. She’s at the top of her game, and thankfully in this case, she’s still playing the same game she started with Tails and continued with Firecracker. She’s improved, there’s no denying that. The songs are more complex, the melodies less afraid to stray from the norm, but it’s Lisa Loeb, through and through. And she’s not going anywhere.