[rating=9.00]
Granted, it’s tempting to simply identify Lilly Hiatt as John Hiatt’s daughter. After all, it’s not uncommon for any offspring of a renowned artist to inevitably be bound to the family lineage. Just ask Sean Lennon, James McCartney or Rufus Wainwright. Each is an accomplished artist in his own right, but when talk turns from careers and accomplishments to backstories and bloodlines, famous parents are always added to the equation.
Not surprisingly then, like the aforementioned artists who were sired by famous fathers, Lilly Hiatt isn’t bound by any comparisons. No matter how high the bar, she remains committed to her career and making music that allows her to set her own standard. Three albums on, she’s succeeded in casting an individual identity, a conclusion borne out by Trinity Lane, an album that stands as her most accomplished effort to date. It’s a collection of songs that both charm and challenge, from the easy sway of “All Kinds of People” to the insistence and aggression of clearly confessional “The Night David Bowie Died.” The thing all these offerings have in common is their remarkable first person perspective, a candor and vulnerability so real and affecting, it almost feels like the listener’s intruding on private space.
“There are places you have no idea that I have been/Like that time my little angel got on heroin,” she sings on the tellingly titled “So Much You Don’t Know.” It’s a chilling proposition, and all the more compelling precisely because it’s so.
Ultimately, Trinity Lane is the work of a knowing and pervasive performer, one who’s adept at manipulating emotions and keeping her audience enthralled. Yes, her dear old dad may have taught her well, but now Lilly’s taken a leap that finds her singling herself out absolutely all on her own.
