Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur After the year Justin Vernon has had, it's only natural that one should sit up at take notice of an album produced by the hirsute man-of-the-moment. Thankfully for Kathleen Edwards, the strength of the majority of songs on her fourth studio album means that Vernon's Midas touch becomes a bonus, rather than a necessity. Voyageur (which, with this spelling, apparently denotes a Canadian wood transporter) is nothing new in terms of country folk-rock; the themes, riffs and at times even the song titles themselves have a definite air of familiarity about them. The lyrics, on the other hand, are playfully and painfully clever, and lift the whole record up a notch. The catchy chorus of opener Empty Threat promises throughout that her "moving to America" is a spineless pledge until the final refrain, in which Edwards belts out that "it's NOT an empty threat" - something you only notice on the fourth or fifth listen. The grandiose finale For The Record plays around with words in a similarly clever way: "For the record/I only wanted to sing songs". While the lyrics are more noticeable than the melodies for this reviewer, there's plenty to delight in instrumentally. Tracks three, four and five are perhaps the best on the album, and each has its own distinctive sound. A Soft Place To Land is built around a beautifully sparse piano that transforms into marching strings and percussion. Standout and current single Change The Sheets replaces the piano of its predecessor for keys and shimmering guitars - and features such a memorably soaring bridge and chorus that it might just be Edwards' best song to date. Its poignant successor, House Full of Empty Rooms, brings spirits right back to earth with the album's best harmonies, courtesy of a familiar sounding male backing-vocalist - is that you, Justin? The second half of the album occasionally meanders slightly off-track, but this is surely Edwards' best full-length record yet. And you get the feeling that she would've managed it with our without the help of a certain bearded gentleman from Wisconsin. Rating: 6.5/10 Alex King Bowlegs				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews