She Paints Words in Red is the second House of Love reunion album, arriving eight years after 2005's Days Run Away, but it received the biggest push since their 1993 farewell, Audience with the Mind, arriving on the prominent indie Cherry Red. Middle age suits House of Love quite well, actually. Always a gentle, melodic guitar pop group, they've aged nicely, feeling at home in their sweetly swaying rhythms and easy, almost whispered melodies. When they were younger, there was an air of preciousness to House of Love, but that's faded over time; they've strengthened as they've mellowed, a seeming contradiction that's never confused because both the tunes and performances are sturdy. She Paints Words in Red is not an album that commands attention, but it's not intended as anything forceful: House of Love are comfortable in their skin without being complacent, sounding happy, even grateful, to be writing and playing again, winding up with a record that stands alongside their '80s and '90s work quite nicely.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo