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The songs, while as elegant and naturally paced as they've ever been, tend to merely drift along.
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Hersh has also masterfully tamed her potent vocal quirks here, using them to tease one moment and hypnotize the next.
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BlenderSweet, spooky harmonies, partly inspired by the death of a close relative, given a naked acoustic production. [May 2003, p.125]
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Possibly the best Kristin Hersh solo album since 1994's classic Hips & Makers.
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Entertainment WeeklyThere's something in Hersh's hushed, otherworldly hymns about dysfunction and off-center mental states that's deeply unsettling--in all the right ways. [14 Mar 2003, p.67]
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The Grotto isn't the type of record that will win Hersh many new admirers, but it will send longtime fans into fits of ecstasy.
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MojoHersh's voice is measured, husky, and quietly defiant, the sound of the [Throwing] Muses' ambient alter ego. [Apr 2003, p.97]
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Her voice, raspy and harsh against the gently ringing acoustic guitar, makes you expect a gloomy, even maudlin disc. But that can distract from what makes it great: its ambiguity, the way she expresses herself in such strangely personal terms yet never settles on an emotional tone.
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The Grotto is a deeply meditative, ambient recording that manages to seem more spare than 1999's Strange Angels, harking all the way back to Hips and Makers.
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Q MagazineAn exquisite addition to the canon. [Apr 2003, p.104]
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It is simple, winding, hypnotic and beautiful, and it makes being human bearable for a while -- without in any way detracting from its essential tragedy.
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It doesn't take long for her aimless acoustic picking and postgraduate lyrical poetry to dissipate into a dull gray haze.
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The WireIt's an uneven set, relying strongly on her performance to carry the songs forward. [#229, p.68]
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UncutIts 10 minimalist songs mine a vein of laconic broodiness. [Apr 2003, p.110]