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Her ability to sound so eccentric yet create music so inherently comfortable is no small feat; by now, we know that wherever she goes to write her albums, and whatever bric-a-brac she ends up playing, the end result is always going to be sublime, and Blood From a Stone is no exception.
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UncutDespite being her most superficially conventional work to date it may be her most slow-burning, with less of the bricolage charm that distinguished the earlier work. [May 2009, p.89]
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This is a singer's album, highlighting Hukkelberg's voice above all else.
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While it lacks the propulsive edge of, say, the Knife, Hukkelberg’s work has a definite orchestral sense, the hallmark of someone who has listened to her share of Cocteau Twins, which is never a bad thing.
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This is a fairly straightforward rock record, to some degree, and its simplicity takes away from those moments in which Hukkelberg thrives.
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Although those searching for a raised pulse will find the title all too appropriate, Blood From A Stone’s hushed, held-breath, Cocteau Twins-ish atmosphere is addictive.
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No one should have expected getting Blood from a Stone to be easy, but it's a shame it had to be this much of a chore.
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The slow-building songs boast impressive payoffs ('Crack,' 'Seventeen'), and when they have a pulse, they're propellant and poised ('Bandy Riddles,' the 1980s whiff of the title track). In between, however, lays a dense, half-baked haze that makes Blood From a Stone frustrating.
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While album opener 'Midnight Sun Dream' hints at the potential of Hukkelberg’s abilities within this new, less experimental-sounding context, the rest of the tracks quickly devolve into a series of anonymous encounters where style trumps substance.