Nver Die Alone

Jen Kirkman's original comedy special delivers some sharp, hilarious truths about life at 40 as filmed at the North Door in Austin, Texas.

There are "difficult second albums," and then there are second albums like To Die Alone: grandiose and triumphant in every way thinkable. The spirit of knowing melodrama dominates most of the compositions on this record. The best songs – and there really are too many to mention here – are intense and soulful pop/rock mini-symphonies of the kind Bruce Springsteen used to make in the mid-'70s: the grand piano pounds, the saxophone lines soar, and the dramatic string arrangements underpin Anders Wendin's wonderfully scruffy voice. Not to forget the rest of the band or producer Jari Haapalainen, of course, who all do an excellent job.