The Kills are scheduled to appear April 13 at the Black Cat.
BACK TO ME
Mars Volta is insufferably self-indulgent on its latest release, "Frances the Mute."
(Sebastian Artz)
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Kathleen Edwards
The world will never be at a loss for singer-songwriters, at least not as long as there's heartbreak and heartache. Canada's Kathleen Edwards may rely on those familiar themes, but with her biting lyrics and nuanced inflection she rarely lets the listener off easy even at her most effortless sounding.
Edwards's debut, "Failer," began with a song that had its protagonist learning of the fate of her relationship when she catches her mate on the 6 o'clock news. In "In State," the first song on "Back to Me," the narrator knows she can find her boyfriend "where the cops hang out," then suggests maybe he'll treat her better after 20 years in the state pen. The title track turns on a particularly deft double-entendre, with Edwards taunting an ex-lover with various romantic lures. In "What Are You Waiting For," that situation is reversed, with Edwards -- "a secret too dirty to keep" -- kicking herself for falling for the wrong bad boy. "All my wrongs don't make you right," she sighs with a subtle mix of resignation, anger and regret.
Much of the disc stomps along like Tom Petty touched by some of Neil Young's ragged glory, but Edwards is often at her best when she's at her most subdued. Her sad voice takes center stage on the mournful "Pink Emerson Radio" (which wonders which one memento to take from a burning house) and "Away," with its pithy and potent admission, "Memory is a terrible thing." Then rather than end the album on an upbeat note, Edwards chooses ambiguity with the bittersweet "Good Things," full of mystery, loneliness and maybe a hint of hope. But just a hint.
-- Joshua Klein
Kathleen Edwards is scheduled to appear May 13 at the Birchmere.
