Kathleen Edwards "Asking For Flowers" Bouquets all round for triumphant third album from Canadian country rocker The stakes are pretty high for Kathleen Edwards' new album. Her debut "Failer" made her a critics and audience darling alike, but second effort "Back To Me" was solid rather than inspired, not least because it was very much son of "Failer." So, third time out, as Sir Alex Ferguson would say, it's squeaky bum time. Can she move on, or will she slip back into the ranks of the Sisyphean? Thankfully by and large posteriors remain silent as Edwards has delivered a mature and thoughtful set of songs that, if they're less immediate than previous ones, have more depth and are ultimately more rewarding. It's telling that that the slightest track by some distance, list song 'The Cheapest Key", is the one most reminiscent of her earlier work. Elsewhere she reveals a power and passion only hinted at before. There's a righteous anger too, whether directed at rich gated communities in "Oh Canada" (But you don't have to believe/What stays out of your world") or her espousal of Iraq draft dodgers Bobby and Annabel in "Oil Man's War". Bit it's when she sings of the small and personal that Edwards truly excels. Whether it's the death of a childhood friend in "Scared At Night" or the heartbreaking honesty of "Goodnight California ("I won't let you in my heart/But you are always on my mind") she cuts to the bone, and never more so that on "Alicia Ross." This is the story of a teenager murdered by her neighbour sung in the first person and uses the imagined minutiae of her last moments to devastating effect: "Inside of this moment there are/Things I wish I could know/Like my ring size, your ring size/And the hour I was born/My dad's middle name, your favourite song/Was your darkest day as dark as this one?" With a stellar backing band which includes Benmont Tench, Bob Glaub and Greg Leisz the playing is never less than immaculate and the result a set of tunes that for the lyrics like a glove, catchy and hooky or thoughtful and sombre as the mood demands. All in all, "Asking for Flowers" is nothing less than a triumph and confirms Edwards' position as one of the best of the best. Jeremy Searle Americana UK				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews