Toni Childs
The Woman’s Boat (Geffen) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
Toni Childs has penned an articulate, stabbing portrait of the female existence with “The Woman’s Boat,” an album that fulfills the cycle of a life. That life is not exactly a happy one; the disc’s protagonist finds enlightenment during her last gasps-calling out to the mother who preceded her. With her scratchy Janis Joplin drawl, Childs herself falls victim to a few feminist cliches with the entailing anti-male rancor. On the good side, though, are Childs’ thoughtful missives that far outstrip the banalities. “Womb” and “Death” sandwich the cycle with a heartbeat throbbing throughout. Growling “I’m breathing in the liquid/of life and holy joy/it’s beautiful here” on the former, she reflects on life’s miracle, even though she seems to be saying that it’s all downhill from there. She’s taken more than a few pages from “The World According to Garp.”
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