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Trollheart · 09-23-2012, 09:13 AM

A pleasant enough voyage

Artiste: Kathleen Edwards
Nationality: Canadian
Album: Voyageur
Year: 2012
Label: Zoe
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
Empty threat
Chameleon/comedian
A soft place to land
Change the sheets
House full of empty rooms
Mint
Sidecar
Pink champagne
Going to Hell
For the record
Chronological position: Fourth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: This album is co-produced by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, with whom Edwards is in a relationship at the moment.
Initial impression: Suzanne? Is that you??
Best track(s):Empty threat, A soft place to land, Pink champagne
Worst track(s): Not a one.
Comments: Hailed as the “Canadian Suzanne Vega”, you can see why as this album gets underway and you hear Kathleen Edwards' voice: it really does sound just like the New York singer/songwriter, so much so that hearing Edwards on the radio I do think I could easily mistake her for Vega. It's a boppy opening as Empty threat rocks along, and things slow down for Chameleon/comedian, with a large injection of folk and Vernon adding guitar, though Edwards herself plays the guitar (mostly acoustic) on just about every song, as well as adding organ and backing vocals to other tracks.

There's a lot of Bon Iver in A soft place to land, the first ballad, to which Vernon adds some effective and powerful backing vox, and he's also to be heard in House full of empty rooms, another tender ballad. But there are rockier songs too, like the organ-driven Mint and Change the sheets, however it's hard to shake the Suzanne Vega comparisons, especially during the gentle Pink champagne, with some nice pedal steel, and Vernon on piano (in a musical duet with Edwards), acoustic guitar and drums. I like how Going to Hell fools you into thinking it's an acoustic ballad, then quickly ramps up into a boppy uptempo rocker, with a pretty blistering guitar solo from Vernon, and the album ends on For the record, a slow, downbeat, almost doomy closer, with some emotive Fender Rhodes courtesy of Kathleen and backing vocals from Norah Jones.
Overall impression: Pretty damn good really.
Intention: Would not be averse to checking out some of her other work.

09-23-2012, 09:13 AM	#93 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,971	A pleasant enough voyage Artiste: Kathleen Edwards Nationality: Canadian Album: Voyageur Year: 2012 Label: Zoe Genre: Rock Tracks: Empty threat Chameleon/comedian A soft place to land Change the sheets House full of empty rooms Mint Sidecar Pink champagne Going to Hell For the record Chronological position: Fourth album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: This album is co-produced by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, with whom Edwards is in a relationship at the moment. Initial impression: Suzanne? Is that you?? Best track(s):Empty threat, A soft place to land, Pink champagne Worst track(s): Not a one. Comments: Hailed as the “Canadian Suzanne Vega”, you can see why as this album gets underway and you hear Kathleen Edwards' voice: it really does sound just like the New York singer/songwriter, so much so that hearing Edwards on the radio I do think I could easily mistake her for Vega. It's a boppy opening as Empty threat rocks along, and things slow down for Chameleon/comedian, with a large injection of folk and Vernon adding guitar, though Edwards herself plays the guitar (mostly acoustic) on just about every song, as well as adding organ and backing vocals to other tracks. There's a lot of Bon Iver in A soft place to land, the first ballad, to which Vernon adds some effective and powerful backing vox, and he's also to be heard in House full of empty rooms, another tender ballad. But there are rockier songs too, like the organ-driven Mint and Change the sheets, however it's hard to shake the Suzanne Vega comparisons, especially during the gentle Pink champagne, with some nice pedal steel, and Vernon on piano (in a musical duet with Edwards), acoustic guitar and drums. I like how Going to Hell fools you into thinking it's an acoustic ballad, then quickly ramps up into a boppy uptempo rocker, with a pretty blistering guitar solo from Vernon, and the album ends on For the record, a slow, downbeat, almost doomy closer, with some emotive Fender Rhodes courtesy of Kathleen and backing vocals from Norah Jones. Overall impression: Pretty damn good really. Intention: Would not be averse to checking out some of her other work. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 11:23 AM.