Pitchfork

Finally, an antidote to the post-Tsunami blues! Jenny Toomey, former singer/songer/guitarist of such delectable bands as Tsunami, Liquorice, and Grenadine, is set to release her debut solo album, Antidote this fall. This will mark her first output since Tsunami's 1997 swan song, A Brilliant Mistake, and she has more than made up for her absence from the creative output realm with the sheer length of her new record: it's a double album.

Since A Brilliant Mistake, Toomey has had many irons in the fire with her various activities on the business tip of the music biz. After Tsunami's demise, she kept busy maintaining her Simple Machines label alongside fellow ex-Tsunamist Kristin Thomson. When the independent closed its doors in April of 1998, Toomey reinvented herself as the executive director of the Future of Music Coalition, an "activist organization dedicated to protecting artists' rights in these technologically tricky times." This role has brought Toomey into the spotlight as of late, with interviews and features in prestigious societal arenas of discourse such as CNN and Spin. These days, however, she's back making music, and her new album promises not only a return to form, but an expansion into new sonic boundaries.

Antidote's first disc, titled "Chicago," sports the production of Chicago recording whiz Dave Trumfio (Pulsars, the Handsome Family, Billy Bragg & Wilco), as well as lovely accompaniment provided by guest stars such as Edith Frost, Ida guitarist Dan Littleton, and Aluminum Group frontman John Navin. The second disc, "Nashville," was mixed by Nashville super-mixer Mark Nevers (Vic Chesnutt, LeAnn Rimes) for a decidedly contrasting (yet complimentary) vibe. "Nashville" contains spots by six members of Nashville's own Lambchop on pedal steel and piano. Both "Chicago" and "Nashville" will feature the violin stylings of player Jean Cook, and "Chicago" even contains, at moments, "a dozen trembling violins" at once! A humbling feat, if I do say so myself. Antidote is due out October 9th on Misra Records.