Listening to Kathleen Edward's 'Voyageur' today was like seeing a good friend buy a whole new wardrobe - not because someone told her to, but because it was time for a change. That same funny, smart, attractive and self-deprecating friend that you've known for years is still entirely herself, but suddenly catches your eye in a whole new way. What a wonderful update.
'Voyageur' hums and whispers, but there is buzzing and thunder on the horizon. Sometimes it rolls in, as in 'Mint', but it always looms. A storm is coming. The ground is shifting. "We're never gonna feel the same" she sang on lead single "Change the Sheets", and she meant it.
'Empty Threat' opens the album on a lighthearted and even quietly funny note, but we feel the stagnation and the loneliness (and we know it can't last). 'Chameleon/comedian' is as blunt and economic as we expect from Kathleen Edwards. No words are wasted, and she's equally unsparing with assessments of her own character as she is with anyone else. 'House Full of Empty Rooms' is a standout for me, and 'Pink Champagne' is gorgeously sad, but there isn't a bad track on Voyageur.
I think I've already talked too much about this one. Just go listen to it. Support Kathleen Edwards. It's January 16, and there's already a record
this good? 2012 is gonna rock.
