Kathleen Edwards - Failer
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Free Music Notes for Failer
Free Music Review: An Honest Album
Hit: 4 Stars
First let me say that I attended a "live" show of Kathleen Edwards without ever having listened to her material. I was very impressed with her singer/songwriter ability and of course her amazing voice. What amazes me even more is that she had a cold that night and was struggling very hard to get through the set, yet I still heard a beautiful voice in between her coughing. She managed through a good 1.5hr set with a 20min break and told everyone that if they wanted, they could get their money back. She even told a audience memeber who drove from 3hrs away to see the show, she would pay for his gas. She was very disheartened about her performance. I don't think anyone requested their money back. So what does all this have to do with the album? Well I went to listen to the album after the show and found that it sounds a bit more on the lighter side of what I saw on stage. Her band was so good that I mentioned this to my friend next to me and he agreed with saying, "They do have a tight sound." The guitarist was feeding off Kathleen (singing and playing mostly acoustic rhythm) who was trying to lead the drummer which created a spontaneous sound...what is important in live performance in my opinion. However on the album, everything is too overproduced. It all sounds too good, and overpackaged. The songwriting is there, but it just really passed right through me, unlike the live performance which captivated me. As far as the album's songs..."Mercury" is by far my favorite. It's slow and depressing...passion flows from her voice as well as the notes from the lead guitar solos. "Sweet Lil' Deck," "National Steel," "Hockey Skates," and "The Lone Wolf" all follow similar to "Mercury" with Kathleen's soft vocals surrounded by the gripping clear sound of the lead guitar backed by a simple rhythms. "One More Song" finds Kathleen singing a little more like Lucinda Williams...each lyric has many words sung with the last word held and drawn out. The guitar is a little more rough sounding like an Alt-Country guitar. "Six O'Clock News" is a little more rootsy with I believe something like a banjo for the rhythm. "Westby" speeds things up a litte bit and Kathleen bellows out her verses. "12 Bellevue" is like "Wesby" but has an edgy guitar feel and is mostly driven by the guitar and not the vocals. "Maria" is the most electric and more like Rock or Alt-Country. The lyrics are honest and upfront. She writes what she knows and it's sometimes very personal. So in my opinion if you want to see greatness, go hear Kathleen play live. If you can't see her live, then settle for something a little less good by getting Failer, which receives a passing grade from me!Free Music Review: Junkmedia.org Review - Promising
Hit: 4 Stars
Kathleen Edwards' voice is breathy and nasal, her songs earnest and ironic at the same time. The irony checks the sincerity of her lyrics, keeps them from becoming anything too cute. In general, Failer, Edwards' debut, nicely shines her rough-edged tunes with a slick polish.Edwards' tunes amount to pre-Uncle Tupelo-sounding country rock; in fact, little on this album actually indicates that it is a product of the 21st century. For all we know from just a casual listen, this album could have been made in the '80s.
Edwards -- a Canadian -- toured the US last fall, playing solo acoustic sets. At those shows, the emphasis was definitely on the songs. That's the emphasis on Failer, too, with the deluxe rock'n'roll band set-up, guitar solos and all, and an occasional banjo to kick up the country feel. The music fits, but the band plays things a little on the safe side and makes no extended excursions into unpredictability.
Failer begins with "Six O'Clock News," a story-song narrated by a woman whose lover is engaged in a guns-drawn standoff with the police. The irony is that the police prevent her from telling her beau the news that might calm him down -- that she is pregnant with his child -- and so he ends up riddled with bullets, "dead on the avenue." At the end, Edwards' persona tells us, "I can't feel my broken heart," but at this point we can forgive her for the clich?; after all, she's been through enough.
What follows are mostly mid-tempo tunes, generally well-written but traversing familiar ground (porches, high school parking lots, and, of course, the usual array of barrooms and bedrooms). Many listeners will appreciate Edwards' clever approach to what passes for romance in certain circles. In "12 Bellevue", she sings, "I don't want to be your friend / Just take off your clothes and get into my bed"; in "Westby" she informs a lover, "I don't think your wife would like my friends." Lamentably absent from the album is Edwards' cover of AC/DC's "Money Talks," one of the highlights of her live shows.
By now, you may have heard that both NPR and Rolling Stone have tagged Edwards as an artist to watch. Watch her, indeed. Failer could be the proverbial flash in the pan, the title an unintended prediction of what's to come. But that's not likely.
Matt Patterson
Junkmedia.org Review
Free Music Review: Wonderful Alt-Country Album
Hit: 5 Stars
I enjoy this album a great deal. Don't expect any fireworks or crazy new sounds, but it is from the heart and speaks just as much about the beauty of life as it does about the hardships. Kathleen Edwards is wise beyond her years. She has a wonder twang to her voice that makes her sound middle aged and it makes me wonder what life has dealt her that she has so much to write about. If you like introspective albums, I recommend "Failer" to you.Free Music Review: Over-hyped, yes, but still Very Worthy
Hit: 4 Stars
Overall, an engaging and enjoyable album. Comparisons to Lucinda Williams proliferate and, while not entirely unjustified, they are an oversimplification. What we have here is a talented singer/songwriter with an ear for a clever turn of phrase and an extremely catchy tune. "Lucinda Williams back by Crazy Horse"? 'Fraid not, but that tag line can only lead to a let-down. The songs are constructed, however, with hooks that wedge themselves into your head and when the music gets going one would be hard-pressed not to join her. Compared to the rough brilliance of Lucinda's lyrics, Edwards's words can, on occasion, make one blush with their earnestness, but with more years I am confident that she will develop into a force in her own right. But do get this album; it does not disappoint in the least. I'm already anxious to see where her next one will take her from here.
Free Music Review: Impressive debut
Hit: 4 Stars
I bought this cd based on a number of favorable reviews that I read. After about a dozen listens now, I can report that I have been pleased with my purchase. I would not categorize Kathleen Edwards as "country" or even "alt.country" - Failer is definitely rock and roll (in particular, "12 Bellevue" and "Maria" rock hard), which is a good thing in my mind. Good hooks abound, and the addition of banjo, organ, horns, and violin make for consistently interesting music. While not perfect, this recording is a very impressive first outing for Ms. Edwards, and I look forward to her development as an artist. I highly recommend Failer.