In Exile Deo (2004)

Juliana Hatfield — In Exile Deo Review Roundup

The New York Times

In Exile Deo is the best album Sheryl Crow never made.

— Jon Pareles, May 30, 2004

Entertainment Weekly

Her first solo effort in four years compellingly merges her girlish voice and bittersweet melodic sensibility with forthright lyrical insight…B+

— Scott Schinder, May 21, 2004

Rolling Stone

★★★

…wistful songwriter-with-backup fare that rocks lightly and stays bright around the corners.

— Christian Hoard, June 10, 2004

Billboard

…a newfound confidence…Tracks like “Get In Line,” “Sunshine” and “Don’t Let Me Down” are upbeat, well-constructed pop tunes.

— Katy Kroll, June 5, 2004

Elle

Best of the Month…

— Carlene Bauer and Leigh Belz, June, 2004

Performing Songwriter

★★★★

With In Exile Deo, Hatfield is at her best…and that’s saying a lot. Raucous, grinding crashes, classic college rock and jubilant pop abound, but it’s all balanced by gorgeous, bittersweet songs like “Tomorrow Never Comes” and “Forever.”

— Clay Steakley, June, 2004

Associated Press

…deeply personal and striking songs that jangle with a pop din but simmer with more intellectual fare.

— Matt Moore, May 17, 2004

Chicago Tribune

“Get in Line” and “Dirty Dog” are among the album’s winners, as is Hatfield’s vulnerable take on Dot Allison’s “Tomorrow Never Comes.”

— Daniel Durchholz, May 16, 2004

The Boston Globe

In Exile Deo, her seventh solo CD, is smart, brash, and beautiful - and arguably the strongest collection of her career.

— Joan Anderman, May 18, 2004

The San Diego Union-Tribune

★★★½

Hatfield has long flashed the potential to make a big breakthrough. If the former Blake Babies front woman at last does so, it’ll be because of In Exile Deo, her finest solo album to date.

— David L. Coddon, June 3, 2004

CMJ Alert

In Exile Deo proves she still has that uncanny knack for catchy melodies and dark lyrics – if anything, her songs are becoming even more poignant as her career progresses.

— Brad Filicky, May 10, 2004

Time Out New York

…on the album’s excellent first three tracks…each song succeeds because of the tension between crisp and familiar jangly melodies and the emotional miasma the words evoke.

— Rob Horning, May 27-June 3, 2004

Vintage Guitar magazine

In Exile Deo showcases not only Hatfield’s considerable songwriting talents, but also her fine vocals and guitar playing.

— Steven Stone, August, 2004

Rocky Mountain News

In Exile Deo finds her not losing a step. With a new band backing her, fans may find her most complete album ever.

— Mark Brown, May 18, 2004

Boston Herald

★★★½

Fortunately the album also has tons of hooks, from the punky to the sweetly melodic… some of the best music of her career.

— Joel Brown, May 14, 2004

Juliana Hatfield — In Exile Deo

The New York Times, May 30, 2004

JULIANA HATFIELD Post-breakup remorse and anger fuel most of the songs on “In Exile Deo” (Zoe), an album that confirms Juliana Hatfield as a songwriter and producer who puts every tool of mainstream rock to smart, emotionally telling use. Her rockers bolster bruised feelings with chunky defiance; the ballads burnish the melodies, and the lyrics find empathy with other characters as well as a love-ravaged first person. “In Exile Deo” is the best album Sheryl Crow never made.

Jon Pareles

Photo caption: Juliana Hatfield continues to make emotionally telling mainstream rock. Photograph by Danny Clinch.

Juliana Hatfield — In Exile Deo

Associated Press, May 17, 2004

A former member of the influential trio Blake Babies, Juliana Hatfield has made it her mission to breakaway from simple tag lines and characterizations. Whiny yet intellectual girlie indie pop princess? That’s so 1994. Composed confessional songwriter? Definitely.

Hatfield is the perfect example of how alternative music stood poised to capture major market share, and why she never did is still a mystery to me and to her cult following.

Her seventh album, “In Exile Deo,” finds the Massachusetts native still writing deeply personal and striking songs that jangle with a pop din but simmer with more intellectual fare.

Across the 13 tracks and more than 50 minutes that comprise her latest LP, Hatfield has shed the wispy fan-friendly grrrl power that critics had initially embraced and then disregarded. Instead, she focuses on relationships, friendship and the emotional bonds that keep people — whether lovers or not — close at hand and in each other’s lives.

In “Tourist,” she sings about making one’s way through the ups and downs that life throws at someone. It’s a simple melody line, but her plaintive vocals propel it forward.

All in all, “In Exile Deo” finds Hatfield at a new stage in her career, one that most listeners ought to share in.

—Matt Moore

Juliana Hatfield — In Exile Deo

Billboard, June 5, 2004

Album Title: In Exile Deo
Producer(s): Juliana Hatfield, David Leonard
Genre: POP
Label/Catalog Number: Zoë/Rounder 01143-1037
Release Date: May 18
Source: Billboard Magazine
Originally Reviewed: June 05, 2004

“In Exile Deo” has all the musical elements alt-rock singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield is known for, including confessional lyrics and thoughtful melodies. But this time around there is something else on display: a newfound confidence. Excluding one or two drab songs, the album exudes a certain airiness. Tracks like “Get in Line,” “Sunshine” and “Don’t Let Me Down” are upbeat, well-constructed pop tunes. The vocals are sweet and slender, which only adds to their appeal. But lest we forget her past, “Jamie’s in Town” and “My Enemy” are not-so-subtle reminders of where the artist has been. Although bittersweet self-analysis has always been her strong point, it is good to know that Hatfield is willing to embrace some lighter fare, too.—KK

Hatfield sparkles in sweltering Somerville setting

Boston Herald, May 20, 2004

By Linda Laban

Juliana Hatfield had good reason to celebrate at the Abbey Lounge Tuesday night.

Not only has the indie rock veteran produced a career highlight in her new CD, “In Exile Deo,” which was released by Zoe/Rounder that day, but she put on a sublime performance. One that, in Hatfield’s beautifully understated way, showcased sanguine, sweet singing, her cool hand with a guitar and a talent for emotional nuance that eclipsed words and notes. Hatfield’s superb songwriting shined.

And all in a Somerville sweatbox.

“It’s like T.T.’s in July,” said Hatfield, her face glistening with sweat and a delicate sparkle courtesy of the makeup counter.

Wearing a worn out T-shirt that was way too huge for the tiny teenaged-looking 36-year-old, Hatfield was backed by localmusicians Ed Valauskas, bass; Pete Caldes, drums; and guitarist Joe Keefe.They had rehearsed perfectly for this show but have yet to confirm any further dates.

Keefe’s band, the Unbusted, opened the evening with a cool set of garage-y pop, and he played beautifully with Hatfield, both complementing her lead points and adding ethereal backing harmonies.

Strangely, perhaps, Hatfield bookended her show with the same song, the bittersweet “Sister.” In between, there were such fan favorites as “Feel It,” a song from her Some Girls project, and new songs such as “Sunshine” and “Because We Love You,” which bubbled along on sensual rolling rock rhythms.

Another highlight, the heartbreaking stripped-bare ballad “Tomorrow Never Comes,” which Hatfield performed solo picking at her electric guitar, was simply a heart-stopper.

Juliana Hatfield — In Exile Deo

Performing Songwriter, June 2004

Juliana Hatfield
In Exile Deo
[Zoë/Rounder]

One of Juliana Hatfield’s most consistent and winning traits is her ability to walk a line between sneering, mean-spirited rock and ebullient pop while remaining wholly committed to each. With the Blake Babies and on solo outings like Hey Babe, she struck a fine balance between the two. As she has progressed as an artist and songwriter, the demarcation between the two has blurred brilliantly.

With In Exile Deo, Hatfield is at her best—if not ever, then at least since Total System Failure. And that’s saying a lot. Raucous, grinding crashes, classic college rock and jubilant pop abound, but it’s all balanced by gorgeous, bittersweet songs like “Tomorrow Never Comes,” and bits of Velvet Underground-inspired mid-tempo genius like “Forever.”

Hatfield’s latest juggles different moods and lyrical text and keeps a cohesive feel throughout. Lyrically, this is Hatfield’s most painfully intimate material—self-destructive, forlorn, manic and beautiful all intertwined. —CS

RATING: ★★★★☆

FOR FANS OF:
Blake Babies – Earwig
Sleater-Kinney – One Beat
X – Under the Big Black Sun

Juliana Hatfield — In Exile Deo

RollingStone.com, May 17, 2004

Juliana Hatfield In Exile Deo (Zoe/Rounder)

Juliana Hatfield albums have varied only slightly from one another over the years, and the fact that she self-produced her latest serves as no distraction from the winning guitar-bass-drums formula. The major difference on In Exile Deo is that lyrically she wrestles with things in the past instead of, as she did in her Twenties, on the wounds of the present. The overall effect is something dark as well as desperate, even as the melodies weave like cotton candy and the guitars crunch like Kit-Kats. It’s all here in the prosaic journal entries she forces on her songs: death, addiction, regret, childhood trauma and the good and bad ex-boyfriends she wishes were still around. In Exile Deo might be all too close to the bone for many a Gen Xer, her signature girlish voice reminding us how we never quite grew up, or got it right. (TODD SPENCER)