Daughter of Loudon and sister of Rufus, Martha becomes the third Wainwright to release an album in 2005. This self-titled effort is her full-length debut, following on the heels of her subtly-titled EP “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole.”

Martha Wainwright has a big personality. She composes folk-based pop tunes with rich melodies, she seems constantly on the verge of a primal scream. Wainwright’s nervous, slightly raspy voice adds simmering tension on the sweetly melancholy “Far Away,”

But this album really vibrates of confessional angst and anger on songs like “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole”, with a lovely Grant Lee’ish guitar and lyrics that got this album to be labeled with the famous “Explicit Lyrics” sticker. This song really makes this album worth your money.

And it helps to know that she’s written the songs herself and not outsourced the song writing to some Swedish hit maker.

Wainwright’s willingness to embrace emotional extremes produces thrilling music that’s utterly stimulating.