When she resumed her career as a solo artist,
Mary Timony
was also notably alone in her personal life. Written and recorded while caring for and losing both of her parents and at the end of a long-term relationship,
Untame the Tiger
finds her dealing with overwhelming loss by turning inward and returning to the transporting psych-rock, prog-rock, and folk influences of her earliest solo albums.
Mountains
and
The Golden Dove
were also created during a time of great transition for
Timony
, but listening to
makes it clear that transition continued while she was playing with
Wild Flag
Ex Hex
. Even though her loneliness is so profound that she devotes a song to it (the country-tinged "The Guest," where she ultimately realizes solitude can be a friend), it never sounds as insular and all-consuming as the fantasy worlds she created on her first two solo albums. Instead,
brings just enough of the directness of her work with
to give her reflections clarity and momentum. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the footloose opening track "No Thirds," where her guitar rings out like a fanfare as she confesses "it still hurts like hell." When she revisits the fantastical imagery of her early solo career,
uses it as a way to gain insight into life's mysteries; she populates "The Dream," a winding power ballad about doubt and disillusionment, with broken mirrors and waterfalls straight out of a fairy tale. Though it's only fitting that she made an album steeped in loneliness without a formal band, one of her collaborators stands out:
Fairport Convention
drummer
Dave Mattacks
underscores
's folk-rock bona fides on "Not the Only One" and also provides a strong backbone to "Summer"'s strut, one of several moments that packs a wallop that rivals
. The radiant psych-rock of "Looking for the Sun" is another, along with "Dominoes," which proves
's way with a savagely funny breakup song hasn't gone anywhere. Aptly, the title track provides one of the album's best juxtapositions of then and now with its stately prelude and clear-eyed chug. On
, balance doesn't mean compromise; as
works her way through grief, she creates moving, memorable songs that fans of any point in her career can appreciate. ~ Heather Phares