Imagine My Surprise!

AMG Review of Imagine My Surprise!

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

The significant artistic growth demonstrated on Holly Near's fourth album was predicated on her coming out as a lesbian, an act she defined as going beyond "sexual preference" to embrace cultural and political aspects, among others. Thus, for example, the kinds of left-wing causes the singer had supported before were now expressed in female terms -- "Kentucky Woman" talked about strip mining, and "Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida" concerned the Chilean junta's terrorism, but both focused the issues on women. And while Near described her emotional awakening, notably on the title song, she also expressed her solidarity with women in "Fight Back," an anthem written in the language and musical style of a union-organizing folk song. Indeed, this album was the closest Near had yet come to a conventional folk album, in part because she had parted ways with composer/arranger Jeff Langley, whose eclectic musical taste had dominated her earlier efforts. In his absence, and in the presence of folkies such as her new lover, Meg Christian, Near relied on acoustic guitar and piano to construct simple musical arrangements charged with some impressive harmony singing. The new simplicity brought with it some of her catchiest songs ever, notably the album-ending "Something About the Women." (The CD reissue added two songs available on other Holly Near albums, both of which concerned emotional issues more directly than anything else on the record and thus didn't quite fit.)