Groove:  Well done Failer a chevrolet suburban from 1988 stands with the hood open on a main road in the canadian wastelands. leaning over the oversized truck is a woman in brace pants with a cowboy cut and a checkered shirt. meet kathleen edwards. pew, the country cliché of all clichés, you're probably thinking about the album cover of the 24-year old's debut album. but wait a minute. ms. edwards actually lives along this deserted main road outside of ottawa. and her old car breaks down on this very road at least once a month. so is the cover photo a cliché? or a picture of reality? that's how it is with the music on failer as well. at the first listening it's easy to dismiss the album as standard country-folkpop with classic steelguitar and banjo playing and with lyrics about alcohol, broken hearts and other countrypain. but no. kathleen edwards is offering so much more than that. she is something so rare as a countryrock-singer with humor and self ironi. just take a look on my personal kathleen-favorite, one more song the radio won't like: obviously the singer/songwriter has chosen not to try and make a commercial radiohit for her debut album - she doesn't hide that she doesn't like the strategic thinking of the music business. the ambassador daughter (who spent most of her growth by canada's embassy in korea and switzerland) is anything but diplomatic when she spits over the record companies: "johnny little rocket star flashing the label's credit card / his name is at the door but no one knew what for". it's exactly the brutally honest and cynical lyrics that is kathleen edwards' greatest strength. her stories about late nights at the bar and unsuccessful relationships seem so real that it's hard not to believe that she's singing her story as it actually is - all the time with a twinkle in the eye. simple and great: i am sitting with a strong feeling of that kathleen edwards really is the woman in the checkered shirt on the cover and that the "a loud-mouthed girl" she sings about also is the ottawa-girl herself. the clichés seem in other words to be true, and thus not clichés, if you know what i mean. kathleen should also have a plus for her singing: at times as untidy as pj harvey, at times full of smoke and hoarse, and at other times soft and sincere. just like lucinda williams, her record company says, and they are absolutely right about that. at her very best our canadian friend sings westby, the song about the young woman who's having sex at a hotel room with her married lover - here she's literally screaming out the lyrics, half snuffling and half charming. that young edwards also has a good ear for melodies, she shows with the swinging and melodramatic six o'clock news. but actually it's difficult to choose specific songs that are especially good or bad. the best thing about edwards is that it is a complete album - something so rare as an album that gets better than it's individual components when you hear all the songs after one another. rating: 5 [out of 7] ingrid k. lund groove.no translated by suzanna				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews