In Exile Deo resonates with Juliana Hatfield’s audience

Juliana Hatfield has flirted with both success and successful people since she began her music… Juliana Hatfield has flirted with both success and successful people since she began her music career in the early ’90s. David Leonard, who has also worked for chart-toppers Avril Lavigne and Shawn Colvin, coproduced Hatfield’s newest album In Exile Deo. She caught the national spotlight with her 1995 album Only Everything, which had the rhythmic foundation and strongly moving current that brought her both fame and respect as an artist. She found an audience that was looking for honestly rooted material instead of the commercial pop-rock sensations that flooded the market at the end of that decade. So what is the earthy, emotion-driven artist really all about?

She grew up in coastal Massachusetts and developed a yearning to experience new styles of music when she began listening to underground groups during high school. She began writing about the hard facts of life and the elusive truth in people. She created many soulful songs that resonated with those who wanted relief from the trend of plasticity in the music industry heightened by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Instead of songs about meaningless dating, Hatfield focuses on the empowerment and personal value of relationships. Her series of albums forced listeners to think outside of the box and to question commonly held concepts and traditions. For instance, the video for the single “Universal Heartbeat” featured images of music students literally collapsing from exhaustion, which she considers a take on the growing schism between personal art and mass-market entertainment.

She bellows out a new mix of both the grievances and elation that accompany a life in our world in the new In Exile Deo. Her style is perhaps closest to an Alanis Morissette-Norah Jones hybrid, but with more emphasis on deep rhythm that complements the tenderness of her lyrics. This album converts her raw talent into a characteristic style of expression that is truly Juliana Hatfield.

Juliana Hatfield will be playing at Club Cafe tonight. For tickets and more information, call (412) 431-4950.