With the release of her second full-length LP Back to Me, Kathleen Edwards has proven herself to be quite a substantial branch in the family tree of female Canadian singer/songwriters. Picking up the mantle first worn by Joni Mitchell and since passed down to the likes of Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan, Edwards has obviously soaked up some influence from all three. While the 11 tracks on her latest album do have splashes of Mitchell’s pain, Morissette’s ironic rage and McLachlan’s mystical quality, Kathleen Edwards could still never be called anything but her own woman and an original.
Back to Me finds Edwards embracing a more mature confident tone than on her first album, Failer (2003). Her wind-swept prairie voice rings true with it’s tales of a life in transit filled with long nights, too many whiskey-laced drinks and not enough honesty. “Pink Emerson Radio” hums with the ache of a childhood lost much too soon and a murky adolescence on the horizon. Turning tough, Emerson easily segues into rock n’ roll with two truly scrappy tracks “Back to Me” and “What Are You Waiting For?”. In the latter, Edwards takes no prisoners as she taunts, “I’m writing you off and you still can’t speak.” Due to the overall stripped down sound on her album, Kathleen Edwards is able to achieve a raw, girl’s gone wild sort of honesty in a way that artists such as Sheryl Crow are continually chasing but never quite capture.
It’s not all hard-edged rock though. Edwards soon returns to more standard folk music topics such as regret, lost love and all around loneliness. She croons on “Summerlong” of the struggle to “beat the rage of my tender age” and hopes (in vain of course) that a summer fling will survive the cooling winds of September. “Copied Keys” is a perfect snap shot of a young life lived in desperation. Smothered by a suffocating love relationship and in danger of losing any sense of self, Edwards offers up the lyric “This is not my town and it never will be”. While there have been countless songs written on this familiar theme, Edwards’ version stands head and shoulders above the rest with its detailed account of a young woman who leaves her own home only to find herself trapped and almost friendless in an unfamiliar place.
Overall, Back to Me represents a shift in Kathleen Edwards’ music career. Only time (and more albums) will tell if she is just temporarily sticking her toe in the waters of more mainstream rock or if this is a sign of more permanent things to come. Either way, Edwards has the songwriting skills and enough upward momentum to carry her down whichever road she chooses. Whether it’s folk or rock, in the end, it’s sure to burn with one hell of an original fire. |