The enigmatic Gypsy Queen of the alternative scene has returned in such exquisitely rare form, that I have no choice but to recommend Ophelia with five stars and proclaim it as the year's best album. So far. (This is on a scale where Radiohead's O.K. Computer is a six--I don't know how you could possibly make a better album). To some degree it appears as if Natalie has shed her glamour-girl/not a follicle-out-of-place/adult contemporary whatever-the-hell trip she's been on for the past several years--Ophelia is vintage Merchandise. It will warm, break and steal your heart; and it has certainly reminded me of why I've been so fatal for Natalie since we met.

Just following the release of 10,000 Maniac's first album 'The Wishing Chair I had the great fortune to sit and chat with Natalie in a little dive called Safari Sam's in Huntington Beach, CA. It was 1985, and I showed up a few hours early for their show and found her alone at a table hunkered over a bowl of chilli and she invited me to join her. This was well before she had any clue as to the fame she would eventually enjoy, and that night she blew this Utah boy way yonder out of his seat.

Cramped on tiny little stage, she surrounded herself with candles and proceeded to frug her nubile frame about, spinning herself by the back of her waist-length hair into a frenzy, spouting incantations like some kind of Voodoo swamp goddess. I was genuinely afraid to be sitting in the front row for fear the candles would lick the bottom of her gauzy frockery and she'd land in my lap a writhing ball of fire. (Actually my youthful romantic heart wished for such an opportunity to valiantly douse the flames and save her life and naturally be asked to join her band).

Though she no longer wears her Mojo on her sleeve, she's let her hair down and bestowed upon us an album full of the glorious gloominess that she is the female master of. Ophelia is a somber album--but somber is the stake that Natalie has claimed and as in many of her lovely songs in the past, she proves that she can turn a chorus into a summation of life's beauty and pain like no other. Not that her songs are necessarily depressing, they just create a pensive mood--sad and sweet.

Since the dissolution of the Maniacs and even a few years prior, Natalie's work has been uneven and somewhat disappointing. With Ophelia she's back in full command of her powers, surpassing any of her past brilliance--riding her muse triumphantly back like a beloved Queen returned from exile. Pick out your favorite heart-wrenching gem from any of her previous work and multiply it by twelve--Ophelia is that gorgeous.

And if all this weren't enough, singing with her on two of the songs, is the vastly underappreciated high priestess of all things sweet and pure, Karen Peris of the Innocence Mission. People, music just doesn't get any more sublime. If you're a fan of the Ethereal Female Alternative' do yourself a favor and check out Umbrella Innocence Mission's masterpiece. The coupling of these two voices is "Dream Team" stuff--if they could've somehow slipped Elizabeth Frazier, from the Cocteau Twins into the mix, I'd never ask for anything else the rest of my life. "Give me the darkness, the sweetness, the sadness, the weakness--oh I need this . . . I need a lullaby, a kiss goodnight, Angel sweet love of my life--oh I need this." If you purchase no other music this year--you need this.