Kathleen Edwards I love you

I don’t really love Kathleen Edwards, but I do love her music. I finally picked up her latest CD yesterday, and let me tell you it is brilliant. Just brilliant.

What you need to know is that I absolutely loved her debut Album, Failer. This was reinforced on an August night in 2003 when I saw her open for Blue Rodeo. She is a kick ass live performer. Her second album came out just before I moved to Fort Albany. I liked it, sure, but it didn’t grab me like Failer did. It was a little too slick for my liking. It was almost as though Kathleen was trying too hard to be accepted by the mainstream.

I will admit that the new disc, Asking for Flowers, has a couple of radio friendly songs, but the vast majority are dark, brooding, and somewhat disturbing. There’s a song called "Alicia Ross" which was inspired by the murder of a young woman from Markham. Then there’s "Oh Canada", which can best be described as "Rockin in the Free World" for the new milenium.

I am pleasantly surprised by how much I love this album. I was prepared for much worse. There’s nothing like lowered expectations eh?