Mia Doi Todd sounds much more comfortable on the new Manzanita than she did on The Golden State, her one major-label record. But that doesn't mean she's back to recording on her own, as she did for her first three acoustic records. On "My Room Is White," the album's first single, it's nothing but Mia and her guitar, and the spare effect works in a familiar fashion.

But other songs head in surprising directions: reggae (the surprising "Casa Nova," featuring Future Pigeon as backing band), hard rock ("The Way," featuring most of Dead Meadow), and '60s rock ("The Last Night of Winter," which sounds strangely like Love) among them. The boldly styled songs aren't inherently better than solo pieces like the brutally honest "Muscle, Bone & Blood," but Doi Todd is fitting her songs into a wider stylistic palette than would be expected, and the effect often works. Manzanita may be too diverse to be cohesive, but it is filled with interesting songs and the continued potential for great things.

Josh Drimmer
February 17, 2005