Hear Me Out: Kathleen Edwards and Joyful Noise
Kathleen Edwards, Voyageur
Her songs have generally been outside herself, but Kathleen Edwards isn’t writing about other people anymore. She’s writing about herself. Voyageur is the Canadian alt-folkie’s most personal work, a 10-song musical catharsis after the tumultuous end of a five-year marriage. For all the doubt, soul-searching and heart-shattering sadness, though, it’s off to a surprisingly carefree start: “I’m moving to America,” she asserts – following it with the punch line: “It’s an empty threat.” Her wingman/new boyfriend, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, adds just enough of his trademark soft-rock euphoria to shake up Edwards’ girl-with-guitar sound. Plainspoken and brutally honest, the words, however, are all Edwards – regrettably recalling her wedding day (dire “Pink Champagne”), seeking solace (sprawling beauty “A Soft Place to Land”) and rebounding on the redemptive rocker “Change the Sheets.” Her fragile drawl whirls into a mesmerizing dream that’s really more of a nightmare on the hauntingly solemn “House Full of Empty Rooms,” a standout so in touch with its feelings of uncertainty and isolation that it could’ve only been written in the midst of her own hell. She picks herself back up on ’90s-esque “Sidecar,” a buzzy breather that’s uniquely hopeful and upbeat. Simple and direct, working in context of the rest of the downer album with that ditty, is all Edwards needs to be. That straightforward voice, in every sense, is what makes Voyageur an insightful and fulfilling journey. Purchase Voyageur
Grade: B+
Joyful Noise soundtrack
God and Glee walk into a recording studio and… no, it’s not a joke. It’s Joyful Noise, the churchy musical that’s about as campy as pitching a tent. Speaking of tents, it stars Dolly Parton, a good enough reason to invest in this gospel lovers’ gay dream come true. The other? Queen Latifah, turning a soulful, if short, take on “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” during the otherwise hilariously cornball mash-up “Higher Medley” that also replaces Usher’s sexisms with call-outs to the Father. Together, the divas vocally throw down on the uplifting love-is-all “Not Enough,” a choir-lifted whopper that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Sister Act movie. To cover its bases, like the country crowd that Parton pulls, the legend does “From Here to the Moon and Back,” a stripped-down orchestral charmer, with Kris Kristofferson. It’s a fine song that’s basically a more subdued “I Will Always Love You.” On “In Love,” Kirk Franklin preaches to the choir, literally, and Latifah’s “Fix Me Jesus” is one of her most understated performances ever. The rest just feels like Glee in God’s house: bombast nearly butchers the end of “Maybe I’m Amazed” and Nickelodeon star Keke Palmer does a decent but forgettable job with her Disney-fed rendition of “Man in the Mirror.” The music from Joyful Noise isn’t nearly as sinfully bad as the movie is said to be. What does that mean? You can listen and not go to confession the next day. Purchase Joyful Noise: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Grade: B-
Related Articles
Most Popular Articles
