In Exile Deo

1	Get in Line 3:38
2	Jamie's in Town 3:58
3	Tourist 2:39
4	Some Rainy Sunday 3:11
5	Tomorrow Never Comes 4:36
6	Forever 3:58
7	Dirty Dog 4:24
8	Because We Love You 4:28
9	Singing in the Shower 4:35
10	It Should've Been You 4:32
11	Sunshine 2:48
12	Don't Let Me Down 3:59
13	My Enemy 4:27

Barnes & Noble

Juliana Hatfield has never been shy about wearing her heart on her sleeve, and this return to solo action -- after a brief stop in the X-chromosome super-group Some Girls -- is every bit as personal as any of her offerings. Unlike many of her solo discs, however, In Exile Deo takes in a wide range of both emotions and styles, making for a sonic ride that's considerably more surprise-filled than usual. That's most obvious on unabashedly upbeat ditties like "Sunshine," which lives up to its name in both its lyrical bent and its breezy, teasing, piano-driven melody, and "Tourist," a chugging self-affirmation that recalls the heyday of the Blake Babies. Hatfield hasn't rid herself of all her skittish tendencies, of course, and this disc finds her still willing to pick at her emotional scabs: The downcast "Forever" finds her musing woozily about being perpetually unable to break patterns of psychic self-abuse, a theme echoed in the organ-laced "Some Rainy Sunday," which revisits a relationship that broke down without imparting any wisdom for the next trip down Lover's Lane. Hatfield's willingness to shelve the chiming guitars here and there also lends dynamic tension to the album, most palpably on the shell-shocked "Jamie's in Town," which creeps along like a long-lost daughter of "You're So Vain." Having wrung plenty of memorable moments from post-adolescent angst and 20-something malaise, Juliana Hatfield has finally entered full-fledged adulthood in what seems to be her best shape ever. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Juliana Hatfield's solo career has been a bit erratic. Touted as the next big thing at the peak of the alt-rock revolution of the early '90s, as the genre fell out of fashion in the latter half of the '90s, so did Hatfield, acrimoniously parting ways with her major label, Atlantic, and returning to the indie leagues. It took her awhile to find her footing as an indie cult artist, but as the new millennium began, she released the appealingly modest Beautiful Creature, which suggested the beginning of a comeback. After a detour with the female alt-rock supergroup Some Girls, she returned refreshed with In Exile Deo, her strongest album in years, rivaling her indie pop breakthrough, Hey Babe. Where that record was sweet and innocent, an outgrowth of the collegiate jangle pop of the '80s, this is a harder record in nearly every sense, from the louder guitars to her world-weary attitude. In the best sense, Hatfield sounds mature for the first time, bringing together the precious pop and ringing rock that she had compartmentalized on the simultaneously released Beautiful Creature and Total System Failure, and writing with a wry, knowing sense of irony. The love affairs and failed relationships she chronicles on the 13 songs resonate with revealing details, reflecting a bruised, bittersweet heart. Her voice has rough edges, lending the album a sense of gravity, and the production is similarly lively and ragged, and that's why In Exile Deo is exciting and fun even if all the songs are about dysfunctional relationships. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the songs are assuredly melodic and memorable, arguably her most consistent set of tunes to date, making this not just a pleasant surprise but an album that grows in stature with repeated listens. Even though this is surely one of her two best albums, it's possible that Juliana Hatfield in the mid-'90s is no more than a cult artist -- frankly, it suits her better than the ingénue of the early '90s -- but listeners who came of age during the alt-rock revolution and were disappointed, even outraged, at Liz Phair's Matrix makeover in 2003 should find In Exile Deo is exactly what they were looking for. Stephen Thomas Erlewine