Katheen Edwards 'Asking For Flowers' __ 04.03.08

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Pitchfork__ 7.9

If the song promises a more somber album than what came before, "The Cheapest Key" kicks those expectations in the teeth. Using an easy mnemonic that makes it sound like she wrote the song in ten minutes ("A is for all the times I bit my tongue / B is for bull$h!t and you fed me some"), Edwards takes a slash-and-burn approach, essentially going ballistic on whichever lout has dared to cross her. Her studio backing band, which includes members of the Heartbreakers (Tom Petty's, not Richard Hell's), have her back. Occasionally, they pad their part, as on the six-and-a-half-minute closer "Goodnight, California", but generally, they bolster her vocals without intruding on the spotlight.

The best moment in "The Cheapest Key" is Edwards spitting the line, "F is my favorite letter, as you know," which has both sexual and bird-flipping connotations. She peppers her songs with lines like that, not necessarily ambiguous but surprisingly frank, the kind that make you stop short. In the title track, about a beleaguered wife, it's the second half of the chorus: "Don't tell me you're too tired/ 10 years I've been working nights." In the wrenching "Alicia Ross", about a real-life case of a woman abducted and killed by her neighbor, it's the opening line: "I am a girl with a forgettable face." In "Scared at Night", it's pretty much every line. Delivering these lyrics, she sings herself nearly hoarse, as if mustering the conviction to convey these hardluck stories properly. There's a combativeness to Edwards' singing and songwriting, as if she knows she's working in a genre that favors tasteful decorum and too often churns out sonic wallpaper. On Asking for Flowers, she sounds better than her peers for being so much braver.

'I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory'

The above song is probably my favourite song of the year now (beating 'I Lust U'! :o ). The album is just amazing in so many ways. It's also been nominated for the Polaris Music Price (the Canadian verson of the Mercurys) and it really is amazing. Also check out her previous album, 'Back To Me' which is just as good - if not better

'Scared At Night'

Edited September 9, 200816 yr by Jonny