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BIG STAR is the third release by Haley Bonar, a St. Paul, Minnesota resident by way of South Dakota (the hooded jacket she wears on the cover of BIG STAR is, apparently, not just for show). From accounts, Bonar’s live performances are a bit more subdued than her recordings, consisting pretty much of herself on guitar and an occasional drummer or bassist. Not that she trots a full orchestra or anything on BIG STAR. No, it’s pretty much a solo project, with Bonar handling vocals, guitar, and keyboards with sidemen taking care of bass and drum work and some very occasional electric guitar. Bonar on BIG STAR, however, makes good use of dynamics and melotron sounds to enhance most of the tracks beyond the basics.

That having been said, BIG STAR is definitely a chick project for same; women of a certain age and station (and point in their relationships) will embrace this disc, maybe playing a cut like the title track to their boyfriend (do women still do that? I have no clue) to communicate a point that they don’t want to say out loud. I don’t see (hear) guys getting much into this project at all; that’s not necessarily a weakness, just an observation. It’s simply that BIG STAR is about relationships, with much of it dealing the point  that your reach 1) after you can’t keep your hands off each other and 2) before one or both of you start wishing that you were somewhere (or with somebody) else (“Arms Of Harm”,  or the enigmatic “Better Half”). Many of the tracks have a dreamy, languid feel to them (the title track, for example, or “Mayday,”) with a touch of Nick Drake running through them (“Little Maiden Gin”). Bonar perhaps deals most touchingly with loss and regret; two tracks near the end of BIG STAR, generally (“Highway 16”) and specifically (“Tiger Boy”). The standout tune might be “Queen of Everything,” a medium-paced rocker that is the closest that she gets on BIG STAR to bombastic.

Bonar’s vocals on BIG STAR for some reason remind me of very early Liz Phair, though the overall mood is quite different. Fans of Bonar’s first two efforts will no doubt be pleased, as she stretches, but doesn’t break, the boundaries set by those projects. Not bad at all, and great if you’re a fem.