Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur The last year has been full of big changes for Kathleen Edwards. The Ottawa-born singer-songwriter divorced from husband and longtime musical collaborator Collin Cripps, started dating Justin Vernon of Wisconsin's Grammy-nominated indie-rock crew Bon Iver and, amidst the emotional upheaval, set about recording her fourth album, the gently moving "Voyageur." While Edwards has flashed a more playful persona in the past - note her tongue-in-cheek 2008 single "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory" - she adopts a more reflective pose here as she details one relationship falling slowly to pieces ("I don't know you, not the way I thought I did," she sings on the introspective "House Full of Empty Rooms") and another gradually taking root ("I'm looking for a soft place to land," she sings on the lush, warm "A Soft Place to Land." "The forest floor/The palms of your hands"). In spite of the occasionally wrenching subject matter, the album, which features a production assist from Vernon, never sounds anything less than inviting, and even a song as bruising as "Pink Champagne" blossoms like a colorful spring garden, layering together delicate acoustic picking, graceful piano chords and atmospheric electronic textures that drift through like a pleasant spring breeze. "I don't want to feel this way," Edwards sings, sounding more resilient than resigned, as though even at her lowest she knows better days are looming right around the next corner. Rating: 3 out of 4 Andy Downing 77 Square				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews