Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur

Kathleen Edwards - Acclaimed Canadian alt-country and indie-pop songstress' fourth album is her first studio project since 2008's Asking for Flowers, a collection that was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize in Canada...Of particular note to the chin-stroking Indie Intelligentsia is the fact that Edwards enlisted new beau Justin "Bon Iver" Vernon to co-produce her new album...perhaps not unrelated, Edwards says the inspiration for her new songs was "sex and geography (Canadian mostly)" // Release: Voyageur (January 17, Rounder) // Sounds like: despite her folk/country background, Edwards has always had a special way with a smart pop hook -- and the occasional bristling rock edge -- as she demonstrated on Flowers...fans are already worried that Voyageur will be seen in the press as a Bon Iver "side project", but tracks indicate Edwards has made a dramatic and personal creative statement all her own...

Quote: "...it was time to make a record that was a better expression of all the musical influences I have, and to set myself apart from the work I've already done." On the recording: "picture someone trying to break a horse. And that horse is the record I made. It threw me off a lot before I finally got it right." // What we like: The shimmering, simmering "Sidecar" chugs along with a solid 4/4 beat, buzzing keyboard layers, elastic bass line and a big-hooked chorus...Lead single "Change the Sheets" leaves her usual folky and alt-country trapping on the dusty wayside for a song that sounds like it would be perfect fit for some lost Fleetwood Mac Rumours-era track. Vernon's co-production brings in some subtle echoing electronic pulses while Edwards sweet/tart vocals have never sounded quite this sharp and driven...

Kathleen Edwards - "Sidecar" (from Voyageur)

Kathleen Edwards - "Change the Sheets" (from Voyageur)

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Seeker Lover Keeper - S/T

Seeker Lover Keeper - Australian performing songwriters Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann & Holly Throsby take a break from their own individual careers to join forces for this relaxed pop/folk collaboration...A one-off outing? We'll wait and see -- but each is now back working on a solo album...released this past spring Down Under -- where it's been nominated for an ARIA -- the album finally gets a stateside street date // Release: Seeker Lover Keeper (US: January 17) // Sounds like: there's a loose, demo-like immediacy to the songs due, in no small part, to the brief ten-day studio booking and the trio's desire to use live takes as often as possible ...utilizing their own piano and guitar playing, BS+T (!) brought in Jim White (The Dirty Three) on drums and Shahzad Ismaily (Tom Waits, Jolie Holland) for bass and guitar...

Quote: "We've all being doing music for the same amount of time, so it’s a good point to intersect with other people. It gives a whole different energy to what you’re doing.” -- Holly Throsby // What we like: the ethereal opener "Bring Me Back" drifts atop celestial harmonies in a nostalgic lullaby...Blasko's distinctive vocals take the lead on five of the album's eleven songs, shining on the handclapping, rhythmic "Light All My Lights"...Seltmann, who penned "1, 2, 3, 4" for Feist, offers up "Rest Your Head On My Shoulder", a simple piano canticle with each member taking a chorus -- and a fine way to end the album...

Seeker Lover Keeper - "Bring Me Back" (from Seeker Lover Keeper)

Seeker Lover Keeper - "We Will Know What It Is" (from Seeker Lover Keeper)

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Jessie Baylin - Little Spark

Jessie Baylin - It's been an eventful few years for the former L.A. songstress as she divorced her label, married Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill, moved to Nashville and began work on the successor to her fine 2008 debut album Firesight....new LP was recently completed with producer Kevin Augunas and multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift as well as an A-list of players and guests, including Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz, Waddy Wachtel, Jimmie Haskell and The Watson Twins // Release: Little Spark (January 17) // Sounds like: Baylin describes the album as "lush, emotional, the next level" and notes that the project was recorded using only analog equipment, adding "nothing digital has touched my baby"...She may have been raised in New Jersey and cut her teeth in L.A., but the cool detachment and mellow twang of songs like "Love Is Wasted On Lovers" sounds tailor-made to her new Tennessee surroundings...

Quote: “Moving to Nashville was a big deal for me, because it changed the way I move through the world. At first, I was alone a lot when Nathan was on tour, and it was just not my world. It was new, it was unfamiliar and that was both exciting and scary. It’s also a lot more slow-paced, compared to everywhere else I’d lived. It forced me to listen more, and you can hear that in these songs, I think.” // What we like: Lead track "Hurry Hurry", the first song recorded for the new project and one that she tells Spinner helped "set the tone for the rest of the sessions," incorporates lush string arrangements and opulent 60's-era production -- think Dusty Springfield at her grandest...The shimmering guitar lines and slow dance mood of "Holiday" -- co-written with Richard Swift -- adds an easy, almost lazy lope to the graceful moves at hand...

Jessie Baylin - "Holiday" (from the album Little Spark)

Jessie Baylin - "Hurry Hurry" (from the album Little Spark)

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more January 17 New Releases

Ani DiFranco - Which Side Are You On?
Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind of Fix
Cate Le Bon - CYRK
Dare Dukes - Thugs and China Dolls
Frank Turner - The Second Three Years  
Humming House - S/T
Jessie Baylin - Little Spark DC
Justin Robinson/Mary Annettes - Bones for Tinder
Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur DC
Old Monk - Birds of Belize
Paul Brill - Breezy
Seeker Lover Keeper - S/T US) DC
Taylor Swift - Speak Now (CD/DVD Deluxe)
The Big Pink - Future This
The Duke Spirit - Bruiser (CD)