Review: Kathleen Edwards, Total Freedom

After writing and recording four studio albums and the ensuing exhaustive touring and promotion behind each, singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards saved her sanity by simply jumping off the industry's hamster wheel. Nights in bars were swapped for early mornings with baristas thanks to Quitters, an Ottawa-area coffee shop she opened in 2014. 

Since that time Edwards performed a handful of select festivals over the years but is back with this solidly consistent fifth effort thoughtfully reflecting on moments and memories, some good and some not so much. And while there are a few tunes that ooze sweet roots rock like the lead single Options Open and opener Glenfern, most of the material shines from some of the best songwriting she's done. 

Perhaps the haunting Ashes To Ashes typifies Total Freedom best: a simple but stellar melody and weighty lyrics about mortality that perfectly complement the song's framework. Meanwhile Feelings Fade is a tender nugget which builds to a surprisingly fine coda.

The handful of up-tempo numbers work start to finish, especially Hard On Everyone which dives headlong into War On Drugs ear-catching wheelhouse. But, for the most part, this is a very mature collection of poignant songs one could easily place alongside Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel Of Love and Tom Petty's Wildflowers.

Total Freedom was released August 14, 2020.
Listen to it here.

Kathleen Edwards new album 'Total Freedom' out via Dualtone Records