Lisa Hunter - Alive

All Music Guide

This Ann Arbor, MI, folk and folk-pop singer/songwriter's Alive is another vibrant, personal continuation of her discography. Picking up a guitar as a Yosemite National Park ranger led to her 1996 debut. Each release built on the next and this, her third, is the most sophisticated and varied yet. The dynamics of such tracks as the title cut and the reverberating, transforming chorus of "Dark Night" begin to reveal the energy of her live shows showing through in the studio. Snippets from her fans included on the disc make this a personal communication to her loyal fans. Another more imaginative way of drawing in the listener is the introduction to the confessional, redeeming "2 Truths Uh Lie." It begins with the sounds of a keys jingling and a car starting up. Listeners are in the close, personal space of the car's front seat with Hunter as, a cappella, she tells the story of discovering a lover's drug addiction to the backdrop of passing traffic.

- Tom Schulte, All Music Guide