eMusic Review
Kathleen Edwards writes the sort of simple, earthy guitar-based songs that the genre-obsessed slot as alt-country or roots-rock, but in fact, her twang is less likely to summon up images of an Ontarian Lucinda Williams than of a female Freedy Johnston. And like that master of miniaturist character studies, Edwards has a knack for placing convincing words in the mouth of a first-person who's not herself. "Alicia Ross" is sung from the perspective of a real-life murder victim and on "Oil Man's War," a driver, fleeing across the northern border to avoid the clutches of the US military, begs his sweetie "keep your hand on my thigh tonight" so warmly that you can almost forgive Edwards overlooking the fact that there's no draft to dodge. (Not yet, anyway.)
Much of her pithily phrased bitterness, however, bears the personal stamp of a woman who's spent a lot of time on the road — in particular the three best cuts here. "The Cheapest Key" is a stinging kiss-off that runs alphabetically through the musical staff from A to G ("F is my favorite letter/ As you know"), "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory" is a rootsy revamp of "You're… read more »
