Exene Cervenka’s latest proves mostly a mixed bag

Exene Cervenka is a woman of two worlds.

In one is her work in the seminal punk band X, with short, fast-paced songs about society. In the other are her solo albums, with a folk rock focus and more intimate tracks.

For the most part, she’s kept these words separate, but her new album, The Excitement of Maybe, tries to strike a balance between the two.

Does it succeed? Not exactly. It’s not a punk album, and it’s not overly folky. Nor does it sound like a hybrid of the two sounds. Instead, the end result is mostly country.

It’s an unexpected genre shift, and in many cases, Cervenka fails to capitalize on it, leaving many songs feeling stilted and slightly too familiar.

But when she gets the sound right, the album soars. The Excitement of Maybe is driven by her vocals and guitar, a few weak moments aside.

Cervenka has a vocal range that reaches sadness, mirth, anger and every emotion in between.

Despite not being a concept album, The Excitement of Maybe has a strong thematic focus. Cervenka provides a somber reflection on a failed relationship with ongoing doubt over it.

It’s a simple idea, but she manages to stretch it out to a full album, creating an emotional arc that grabs the listener, even when the instrumentals falter.

To go with the uncertainty in her lyrics, Cervenka uses the motif of falling to tie things together. Beyond the track actually called “Falling,” she brings the theme up in “Brand New Memory” and “I Wish It Would Stop Raining.”

It’s a wonderfully visual idea, but at times the lyrics get lost in the somewhat jarring musical styles backing the words.

Cervenka is incredibly visual in her lyrics, painting a picture of lonesome, parched deserts or of sitting lost in doubt in a rainstorm.

Cervenka splits the album into two sections. The first half is the more remorseful side and the songs are far more somber. Starting with “Turning With the World,” she shifts her lyrical themes and instead of self-pity or doubt, relates an uncertain but optimistic attempt to get over the relationship.

Just as the lyrical focus changes midway, so does the style. The first half is an odd attempt at merging her punk and folk trappings, often throwing in different genre elements to create a hybrid.

But in the second half, she takes a turn toward an even stronger country focus. “Beyond You” and “Someday I’ll Forget” are twangy, June Cash-like numbers that, though more musically cohesive than earlier songs, are jarring in their sudden genre shift.

Once she settles on the style, however, the album grows stronger. “Half Past Forever,” “I’ll Admit It Now” and “Love and Haight” are some of the best tracks on the record, partly due to the closure permeating Cervenka’s lyrics and also due to the way she weaves the songs together instrumentally.

The album’s best moment comes in the bonus track “Long Time Ago.” The beats receive a greater focus and Cervenka’s singing resembles her more fast-paced work in X, while still keeping the lyrical themes of the album intact.

This is where her folk and punk sides seem to really come together. Instead of a slightly uncomfortable mishmash of styles, Cervenka crafts a sound more akin to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, or something along the lines of Amanda Palmer’s solo work.

As the concluding track of the album, it serves as the culmination of what she was trying to do with the record, but as it is far more successful at this than the rest of the album. It is more like a diamond among coal.

In a way, The Excitement of Maybe is like a jigsaw puzzle: The different pieces are good and could come together to make a work of art, but Cervenka just can’t put the pieces together.