Jenny Hoyston, Isle Of

A solo album, especially a first solo album, is the opportunity for an artist to create a different path for him or herself. It’s the chance to offer up another side of one’s musical personality, separate and distinct from the collaborative band experience. The solo album can be liberating and artistically exciting, but can also make or break future solo endeavors if not executed just right. Jenny Hoyston has approached her solo project Isle Of with reckless abandon. She’s pulled out everything she had inside her and let it unravel into a dozen distinctly different songs. Each tune is sung like a representation of a different part of her musical soul. “Send the Angels” reads a lot like something that would have appeared on Liz Phair’s pre-sell out gem Exile in Guyville. Hoyston’s natural and uncomplicated vocal sound bounces just as calmly and confidently alongside the titillating twang of her guitar as it did off her synth-pop melodies. Isle Of is the embodiment of a solo album done right.