Reviews
Kathleen Edwards
Failer
Digg this review.
Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2004-12-29
I like to think of Kathleen Edwards as Sarah Harmer's younger sister. They're both talented, young, female, Canadian singer-songwriters (how do you like them adjectives?). They're both working the pared-down songs, with their voices and an acoustic guitar being the main ingredients in each composition. They're both under the same manager. And they're both curly-heads, which supports my genetic theory.
If Kathleen Edwards is Sarah Harmer's musical little sister, she's the scrappy younger sibling. Both singers write about relationships gone wrong, but Edwards' are the sort that probably wouldn't have gone right in the first place, judging from the older men, slick music industry types and general drunks that pop up on her debut album, Failer. And given the frequent mentions of alcohol and bars, Edwards has lived a little harder than her fairly upper class childhood (her father is a Canadian diplomat) might indicate.
Failer is a strong debut album. It sounds like it came from an artist years older than Edwards, who was in her early 20s when it was released. First albums from young female artists are often drenched in pathos, filled with sad, victimized tales of lovers who done wrong and boys that got away. Edwards works some of that in -- she's wanting someone she can't have for one reason or another ("12 Bellvue") or trying to get rid of someone who won't leave her alone with her misery and her beer ("Hockey Skates").
It's hard to find something original in tales of love gone wrong. But Edwards' songs work because they're honest -- some of the guys are assholes, but so is she sometimes. Lines like "No one like a girl who won't sober up" ("One More Song the Radio Won't Like"), "Wanna go get high/Mercury's parked outside" ("Mercury") and "I dance dirty for you cuz it turns you on/And I'm a little bleeder with white pants on" ("Westby") show a straightforwardness and lack of prentention that shines through in Edwards' interviews as well as her lyrics. It does her songs a lot of favours.
The strongest song on the album, lyrically, is "Hockey Skates" (that title is so Canadian it hurts), which documents a narrator (presumably Edwards) meeting up with a former lover who is trying to stop her from unraveling, to no avail. "I am so sick of consequence and the look on your face/I am tired of playing defense/and I don't even have hockey skates" is a great lyric that uses metaphor effectively, without being hockey, and manages to paint a picture and say plenty without melodrama and wordiness.
The songs are strong musically as well as lyrically. "Westby" has very effective, slightly uneven guitar. "12 Bellevue" is danceable and could/should have been a hit for Edwards. "National Steel" has a great musical interlude after the first verse and chorus, featuring the violin that Edwards is classically trained on, and ends on a similar note with some great percussion thrown into the mix. The vocals really shine as well -- her voice is simple, but Edwards puts it to good use throughout Failer. It can be gritty or soft, strong or sad, depending on what each song calls for.
When you consider that Edwards only started writing songs shortly after she finished high school, Failer's maturity is even more impressive. This is one of those rare albums where you don't have to skip a track. The songs seem simple on the first couple of listens -- and they are, in the best kind of way -- but the more you play the album, the more you notice the little touches that make them special. After great reviews, lots of touring and some good buzz at South by Southwest, Edwards is releasing a new album on March 1, 2005. Based on the strength of this recording, I'll be buying it on release day.
Score: 9
- Terri