On her new album, Kathleen Edwards shows a Northern kind of beauty.
Kathleen Edwards
At a time when every artist clinging to a guitar is branded either a “singer/songwriter” or a “folkie,” Kathleen Edwards is defying stereotypes.
She is a songwriter of unexpected strength, as prone to airing out piano ballads (“Pink Champagne”) as she is to lock into the pounding drums and buoyant 1960’s melodies as she does in “Sidecars.”
And through it all, she crafts the meticulous lyrics of “Voyageur” and songs such as the pulsating, full band “Change the Sheets:”
“My life is a stockpile of broken wills/Like Santa Fe, margaritas and sleeping pills/I want to lie in the cracks of this lonely road/I can fill in the blanks for every time you don’t phone/Here is the truth: I used to be fun/Go ahead run, run, run, run.”
Co-produced by Edwards and Justin Vernon, the album was recorded between August 2010 and May 2011 in Toronto, Canada and Fall Creek, Wisconsin. That might explain its expansiveness, a Northern night kind of beauty, a shooting star in the dark skies of music at the moment.
It is bolstered by the “moving to America” visions of “Empty Threat,” the big electric buildup of “Going to Hell,” or “Mint,” which is spiced by some typically tasty Edwards’ lyrics:
“The taste of mint/You were a field of it/Why I couldn’t say no/To the taste of it/
God knows I want to/God knows I need to/God doesn’t know you like I do.”
Along with the writer’s exceptional touring band, guest collaborators on “Voyageur” include Francis and the Lights, Norah Jones, Stornoway, John Roderick, Phil Cook (Megafaun), Sean Carey (Bon Iver), Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas) and Brian Moen (Peter Wolf Crier).
Songs to download: “Change the Sheets” “Sidecars.”
Rating Scale: One Star (poor) to Five Stars (a classic).