Perfect Albums No. 2

Kathleen Edwards: Back to Me Oh those shifty Canadians. They sit up there all Northern-like in their giant country full of maple leaves and snow. Sometimes we State-siders forget that many of the beloved artists we just kind of claim are from across the border. Joni Mitchell. Neil Young. Jim Carrey. Classics, all. Not surprisingly, then...there's an excellent new crop of baby Canucks with songwriting chops and a point to make. It's hard for me to choose between Kathleen's first album, Failer, and this one. My buddy Ben and I discovered her after seeing her play a song on David Letterman back when we were sophomores in college. I lived in a closet then, and we'd huddle in it and watch late night TV. The official dorm term for it was "Apartment B Building N-102," but it was a closet. I digress. We saw Kathleen play a song (I'm not even sure I remember which one) and we got on Amazon.com right then and ordered Failer. It's got many a gem on it...and I appreciated that. We went on with our lives, we worked a Kathleen cover into our live show, life went on. After a while Back to Me was delivered to us via the great the Great White North and I said..."hey." What else can you say? It's gritty, it's sweet, it's not annoying in any way whatsoever. (Sadly, in this day and age, criteria for a good album has to include "Not Annoying.") Kathleen's got a voice that takes a bit to get into...it's rough, it's a tad nasal, and sometimes you wonder what note she was going for. That's the brilliance. You get the impression that recording the CD was a big, inspired jam-fest. Not in that 18-minute-solo-Grateful-Dead sort of way (but hey, don't knock it)...but in that unpolished, earthy sort of way. The album begins with one of my favorite tracks, "In State." It's a prison song. It's probably a metaphor. Even if it's not...prison songs are great. It's raw, it's rocking, it's full of life. It also contains that crunchy and prominent guitar sound that is so desperately needed these days. (See previous Jana Rant for an explanation). Good stuff abounds, one of my favorites being a happy little ditty with the required unhappy-type lyrics..."Summerlong." "There are some things I can hardly say; you got me feeling a brand new way. Please don't let this be summerlong." (Yeah, it's all one word. Ask Webster, I don't know). Kathleen's Talent: I know in my last Perfect Album review I waxed poetic about the glories of a fully themed and executed album. Kathleen has a similar skill, though she manages to nip and tuck it all into ONE SONG. Those Canadians were always good with brevity (Case in point: only TWO colors required for the very recognizable national flag...America needs three. I know). "Copied Keys" is another good one...about how walking into someone's pre-existing life and trying to plug in doesn't...usually...work. Ow. It begins with a nice little acoustic guitar line, and then comes in the slide...a mournful, wailing yet complacent kind of tone. "This is not my town and it will never be. This is our apartment filled with your things. This is your life, I get copied keys." And the drums start rocking and the slide guitar moans and a chorus of "ahs" brings it all home with some sort of desperate crescendo. And then what happens? You guessed it. ANOTHER KICK BUTT GUITAR SOLO. Bring it. She's on her way to being the next folk-rock troubadour, Canadian and otherwise. Pick up Failer and Back to Me before the next one comes out...and then you won't be so playing catch up. I do what I can for you, dear readers.