Feeling rejected or receiving the brunt of a break-up seems universal. Equally so might be the spurt of inspiration that comes of it. While dumped laymen scribble distressingly embarrassing poetry or listen to an empathizing record, we can leave it to Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ vocalist Karen O to take heartbreak to her music. This time, however, her band was absent; Crush Songs (Cult Records) was recorded by the then 27-year-old Karen O (now 35) on her own between 2006 and 2007 and documents her own spur of the moment, heartbreak-induced inspiration with just her guitar and vox.

As such, much like that aforementioned appalling poetry, it might have been best if Crush Songs remained private. As the title indicates, Karen O sings about being crushed in every single one of the record’s 14 tracks. They are all presented in a fuzzed-out, lo-fi aesthetic, not unlike, say, The Mountain Goats’ All Hail West Texas. But while that album was deeply introspective, O only scratches the surface of her lovelorn entanglements. The songs do indeed seem quite personal, and perhaps with some context the record wouldn’t seem so vague or pubescent, but it’s hard to appreciate them on any level as presented here. While our heroine obviously underwent some particularly cutthroat romantic encounters close to a decade ago, Crush Songs is defined only by sadness with little thought or anything else going on. With closer reflection on Karen O’s part, perhaps Crush Songs may have had something to offer the listener or it may not have been released at all.