Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards

Back to Me (Zoe)

Back to Me, the second album from Ottawa's Kathleen Edwards, brings to mind perennially underappreciated Cheri Knight, who made two fine albums produced by Steve Earle in the Nineties, as well as Lucinda Williams. Both Knight and Williams have a way about their songwriting and public persona that comes across as both physically strong yet emotionally sensitive. Musically, Edwards is working the same alt.country/roots rock vein as they do, but she does it in a way that tries for brave and perceptive and comes off as fussy and clichéd. This undercut her 2003 debut Failer too, even though it won Edwards critical acclaim from The New York Times and No Depression and landed her opening act slots for the likes of Bob Dylan, AC/DC (!), and the Rolling Stones. Nevertheless, the title track of Back to Me is a perfect example of what is lacking in her songs. It's a cousin to Lucinda Williams' "Changed the Locks," but instead of the narrator standing up to the bastard, she's thinking of ways to get him to return. The rest is marred by Edwards' rather unremarkable voice. She seems to have one gear; a breathy, slightly hoarse moan that weakens the force of her Tom Petty-influenced rockers, while getting dangerously close to somnolent on the quieter fare. (Thursday, March 17, 12mid @ Caribbean Lights)