KRISTIN HERSH Strange Angels
Rykodisc $15.99
rating: ***

With last year's breakup of the seminal Throwing Muses, a mainstay of women-oriented rock groups vanished. Half-sisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly had already made their creative divorce when Donelly left the Muses to form the Breeders in 1990. On Tuesday Hersh releases her second solo effort, the long-awaited followup to 1994's gorgeous "Hips and Makers."

While "Hips" was starkly written, "Angels" is even more spare in its attack. Hersh's acoustic guitar is almost completely unfettered by backup instruments, aside from the occasional piano or string flourish. Her voice, as always, is edgy and pained, unpretty but comforting in its wizened tones.

The songs on "Angel" drift from one to the next, forming a loose structure upon which Hersh perches her vocals. That she has struggled with mental illness -- and is the mother of three -- may explain her surrealistic lyrics. But mystifying moments like "This war's OK/In a sweet old fashioned way" make Hersh's lucid moments all the more powerful, as when she sings "Use me I get stronger/I get weaker when you treat me like a queen" on "Stained."

Although Hersh's guitar tones are lean at best, their folky undertones add shimmering dimension to her songs. Occasionally she lets the instrument hold its own, like her chiming solo on "Heaven." "Angels" can make for difficult listening, but the richness of Hersh's songwriting is worth the effort.
-- Beth Winegarner

This article was originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle.