Juliana Hatfield talks memoir, (maybe) final album

With years of simplistic and sincere songcraft, raw vocals and '90s malaise under her belt, Juliana Hatfield still has a lot to say. This time around, Hatfield has chosen two mediums to expose herself: a carefully-tailored pop album and a memoir that looks back on her lengthy run in alternative rock. She spilled some details about both creative efforts when she recently caught up with Paste.

Hatfield earned her chops as bassist/vocalist of Boston darlings Blake Babies, which segued into a long solo career. Albums like 1992's Hey Babe and 1993's Become What You Are catapulted her to the forefront of the grunge-rock phenom (insert snide back-when-MTV-still-played-music remark here). She became an item of male and female fascination as the raw, honest twenty-something SPIN covergirl who at times played alongside Lemonheads' Evan Dando. While she was certainly a fixture of the '90s, don't expect her to get all wistful and starry-eyed about those years. "I don't feel nostalgic for that time at all, mostly because I was so miserable then, " she tells Paste. "I was just dying to get out of my twenties."

And while it may seem fitting, the idea of being canonized among other "women in rock" of the time (Liz Phair, Kim Deal and others of that ilk), it has never sat well with Hatfield. In fact, it still pisses her off. "It didn't seem fair to me that men weren't lumped together as 'men in rock,'" she explains. "Even the term 'women in rock' seemed really demeaning to my music and to all the other women who were making music. I still don't have any interest in talking about it. And fortunately, I don't think it's such an issue anymore."

Her forthcoming memoir, When I Grow Up, centers around an identity crisis of sorts she had during a van tour about five years ago, wondering how she hit her mid-thirties and was still doing rock-club gigs. The rest of the book explains her path as a musician up to that point, detailing all the breakups, breakdowns and career highs and lows along the way. Among other things, she hopes the book will clear the air about many misconceptions of herself and her songs that have emerged over the years. "I'm just trying to get rid of all the mystery surrounding me and let people see what I'm thinking," she says. "So they can understand me and stop assuming things about me."

Before her tell-all book hits the shelves, Hatfield will release How to Walk Away, produced by Ivy's Andy Chase, that features guest appearances from Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) and Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs), among others. The album's production is much more a return to the pop mentality of 2003's Exile in Deo than a follow-up to her last solo effort, the rough-around-the-edges Made In China. As is the case with most things Hatfield, Walk Away plays like a cathartic diary entry, but it may be the singer's last. "That's kind of the subtext of the title of my album," she says. "It's like, maybe this is me walking away from my career. I'm not sure yet, but it could be my last album... I definitely need to take a break."

Before she takes what may become an indefinite "break" from music, Hatfield plans to hit the road in support of her new album and book. She will perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Aug. 25 before starting her tour in early September. Check the dates below:

September

9 - Washington, D.C. @ IOTA

10 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ World Café Live with special guest Hayden

12 - New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom

14 - Boston, Mass. @ Brattle Theater

23 - Seattle, Wash. @ Triple Door

24 - Portland, Ore. @ Aladdin

25 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Café du Nord

27 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Largo

October:

10 - London, England @ Queen Elizabeth Hall

23 - New York, N.Y. @ Housing Works Bookstore Café (CMJ Music Marathon show)

* more dates to be added soon

Hatfield is slated to release How to Walk Away Aug. 19 on her own Ye Olde Records (via Redeye). When I Grow Up: A Memoir will be published by John Wiley & Sons on Sept. 29.