Hart’s most introspective and compelling album yet, Better Than Home peels back the intimate layers of her personal pain to not only examine them but transform them into something empowering and insightful. It has been no secret over the years that Hart’s greatest wealth of inspiration has come from intense periods of struggle in her life, from the loss of her sister to AIDS, to drug use and family strife, to an eventual bipolar diagnosis that was both frightening and liberating. The ultimate conqueror, Hart bounced back at full creative strength prepared to own and share her story.
On the title song “Better Than Home” we meet a migrating soul, face to face with her maker. “Mechanical Heart” is a powerful love song to Hart’s husband of 15 years, vowing that she will find a way to give him all that he deserves despite her emotional limitations. “Tell Her You Belong To Me” is one of the most personal songs for Hart, sung from the perspective of a daughter when her father remarries. Some levity is brought to the album with the track “You Might As Well Smile,” a reminder to not take things too seriously.