Difficult Emotions

***JANE SIBERRY. “The Walking.” Reprise. When Toronto’s Siberry and New Yorker Suzanne Vega first came to wide attention in early 1985, both were tagged as crosses between Joni Mitchell and Laurie Anderson, and with some justification. Each created music that was rooted in the coffee-house folk confessions of Mitchell’s early-’70s records, but with an ‘80s viewpoint and musical approach that bore some resemblance to Anderson’s electronic art-pop.

But where Vega’s observations and delivery are characterized by a sense of cold detachment, Siberry’s are warm, vibrant and involving. And though Vega has surged ahead of Siberry in record sales, Siberry has far surpassed Vega in artistry.

With her third album (not counting an early independent acoustic release), Siberry--working with her sharp, inventive band--widens the gap, though “The Walking” makes for some very difficult listening. Where her previous two albums were explosions of colors as seen by a wide-eyed woman in love with the world, this is an implosion of emotions felt by that same woman crushed by the loss of love.

As such, it’s a hard record to get a handle on. Only one of the eight songs--the catchy “Ingrid (and the Footman)”--follows any kind of conventional structure. The rest are generally lengthy (averaging around seven minutes) series of fragments in which music and lyrics follow a roller coaster of desperation, pity, rage and ultimately lingering love.

Sometimes Siberry’s strong voice sinks to a nearly incomprehensible mumble. At other times she howls in pain, as at the end of what may be the album’s key phrase: “I went to say I love you, but instead I said goodby.” Similarly, vocal and instrumental hooks emerge here and there, only to vanish.

Yet taken as an impressionistic representation of the gyrations of the human psyche, “The Walking” is a resounding success--no matter how much work it takes on the listener’s part. And by any standard, it confirms Siberry’s standing as an original and imaginative performer who has only begun to show her capabilities.