Kathleen Edwards, 'Voyageur' Rising alt-country star tugs hard on the heartstrings The buzz: With a trio of very fine alt-country albums under her belt - which were well-received critically but somewhat overlooked commercially, compared to lesser peers - Kathleen Edwards wanted to be sure she wasn't painting herself into an Americana corner. For "Voyageur," she wound up enlisting the co-producing talents of Mr. Bon Iver, Justin Vernon. Since then, the collaborators have been romantically linked as well. A new Indie power couple? If that's the necessary hook to get her catalog more attention, so be it. The verdict: Longtime Edwards fans might be relieved to hear that she has expanded her sound without being Bon Iver-ized too dramatically. Fueled in part by Edwards' divorce, "Voyageur" certainly has its share of confessional melancholy - "House Full of Empty Rooms" in particular is a gut-puncher worth inclusion on all 2012 breakup mixes, while "For the Record" and "A Soft Place to Land" also merit consideration - but she's never needed any help in hitting those notes, and she hits them here poignantly (and repeatedly). The up-tempo fare is a little disappointing by comparison; there's nothing as snarling and rollicking as some of her best earlier tracks, and though she's a skilled pop-rock songwriter, her worst moments ("Mint") take her into the overly-trod universe of Sheryl Crow. Did you know? A catalyst for the Edwards-Vernon collaboration was her lovely track "Wapusk," written as a salute to Canada's National Parks Project - and available on the 7" alongside album cut "Change the Sheets." Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Adam McKibbin Metromix Chicago				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews