Album Review: Natalie Merchant - Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings

What kinda ego trip could justify totally re-recording a classic album?

These are Natalie Merchant's songs and frankly, she can do whatever the bloody hell she wants with them. Coupled with a film (unpreviewed) revisiting her premier work post emerging from 10,000 Maniacs' cocoon, the last 20 years wandering further into folkier fields have loosened much of Tigerlily. Beloved Wife now sounds like a devastating hymn of loss of a lesbian soul mate while Jealousy takes a more jocular turn. Carnival's shuffling reinvention momentarily stumbles, but by reconnecting with the past, Merchant's re-visitations prove welcomingly contemporary.