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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

With Intriguing Sophomore Set, Belly Shows It’s Not A One-Album Wonder

David Bauder Associated Press

Can’t complain about this rock star life.

After one successful album, the members of Belly hired a producer who had worked with the Rolling Stones and Beatles, booked a studio in the Bahamas and displayed their tanned bodies on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Cut lead singer Tanya Donelly some slack, though. Her band resisted sophomore pressures and created a strong, aurally intriguing second album that makes Belly strong contenders for stardom.

And besides, the Bahamas weren’t a vacation paradise. Donelly said the studio was struck twice by lightning while they were there.

“It’s not as glamorous as you might think,” she said. “There’s a real casino vibe there, kind of tacky.”

Donelly is a member of a new generation of New England rock royalty. She spent the late 1980s in the band Throwing Muses with her stepsister, Kristin Hersh, and joined Kim Deal for one album with the Breeders before taking control of her own band.

Like countless numbers of musicians, Donelly can trace her initial inspiration to the Beatles. She remembers seeing the movie “Help” on her 14th birthday.

That was in 1980, a time when many of her peers considered the Beatles their parents’ music. She called it “terrifying” that so many members of her generation know little about the band.

“I probably have more of a pop sensibility than some modern bands as a result of that,” she said.

“But weird pop - skewed pop - is my favorite music. I like music that’s seductive, but has something to back that up.”

That also succinctly describes Belly’s music. The band specializes in pop songs with a few left turns, such as the sudden chant in “Red” that turns a dreamy tune into something more powerful.

Donelly can be blunt in her lyrics - “Baby, I can’t fake it,” she sings at one point, “I’d like to see you naked” - but prefers to keep some mystery in her music.

“I feel like a song lasts longer the less literal it is,” she said. “I’m not stream of consciousness, by any means. The songs are about something. But I prefer to create a situation where people can put their own heads into the songs, and it’s not necessarily a story by me.

“I think that’s more interesting. When I listen to music like R.E.M., I don’t try to figure out what Michael’s saying. I don’t really care. I very selfishly appropriate it.”

Donelly, who does the bulk of the band’s songwriting, is adept at the type of imagery that allows listeners to use their imagination. On “Judas My Heart,” she sings that “there’s a blanket of sighs and it covers the stars.”

She said it is about the “veil of despair” that seems to hang over many people her age and younger.