CDs of the week: Kathleen Edwards, First Aid Kit and The Atlas Mountians

Kathleen Edwards
Voyageur
(Rounder)
****

The fourth album from the Canadian singer-songwriter finds her ditching the country-rock stylings of yore and opting for a sweeter, more melodic approach. Her voice - clear, strong, streaked with a wintry melancholia - is at times eerily reminiscent of Laura Veirs, as is the way the melodies elegantly twist away from predictable paths. Edwards has enlisted help from various quarters, notably her co-producer, partner and multi-instrumentalist Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, but also including Norah Jones, Stornaway and Vernon's bandmate Sean Carey. Also present are members of her regular touring band, among whom is the forbiddingly named Gord Tough on guitar.

The opening Empty Threat is a pleasant, mid-tempo affair made piquant with a hint of steel guitar, but the following Chameleon/Comedian shows Edwards at her best, as does Change the Sheets, both of which have a lovely, haunting quality. Guitars tastefully abound, heard to particularly good effect on Going to Hell and For the Record, the latter also featuring a charming xylophone accompaniment.

If I had one mild criticism of the record, it would be that there is nothing particularly original here, nothing to frighten the horses, so to speak. That, however, is a mild quibble, because Voyageur has been put together with impeccable care and attention to detail and is adept at delivering pleasurable frissons. Any collection that contains a ballad as pretty as House Full of Empty Rooms is worth serious consideration.
PETE CLARK

First Aid Kit
The Lion's Roar
(Wichita)
****

Since the admirable Lee Hazlewood spent much of the Seventies in Stockholm, Sweden has developed an abiding love of skew-whiff, raised-eyebrow country, invariably underpinned with both twangy melancholy and an impish sense of fun. The Stockholm sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg's second album is more fully realised than their undercooked debut, The Big Black & the Blue. They offer a twisted but accessible take on country, be it the jaunty Emmylou where they cheekily compare themselves to the lovers of Gram Parsons and Johnny Cash; the more mournful title track; or King of the World, where they reveal a hitherto hidden sense of uplift. There's genuine beauty here.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Chairlift
Something
(Columbia)
****

Return of the trendy Brooklynites with the follow-up to 2008's excellent Does You Inspire You. With the departure of guitarist Aaron Pfenning, they're now a duo: Patrick Wimberly creates the musical backdrops; Caroline Polachek provides the billowy vocals. The result resembles a 21st-century take on Eurythmics: icy electro-pop with a warm, melodic core. Things get a little overblown on Cool as a Fire, but Ghost Tonight and the punkish Met Before are irresistible. A more hymnal quality emerges late on, with Turning and Guilty as Charged bottling the glacial beauty of Beach House's Teen Dream. Uplifting, in every sense. 
RICK PEARSON

François & the Atlas Mountains
E Volo Love
(Domino)
****

François Marry is the first French signing to the Domino Recording Company, home of Arctic Monkeys, though he actually spent his formative years in Bristol. Accordingly this release flickers across cultural styles, switching between English and French lyrics in a single line on Azrou Tune and featuring African guitars on Muddy Heart. It's a gentle, frequently exquisitely beautiful sound - intricate, hazy guitars on Les Plus Beaux and a casual keyboard groove on the catchy standout Slow Love. Marry's voice is the weak link unfortunately, a thin instrument with a shakiness that sometimes suits the fragile music but often sounds too weak to appeal. Some lovely tunes, such as Cherchant Des Ponts and City Kiss, help him through.
DAVID SMYTH

World Routes
On the Road
(Nascente)
****

This double CD features recordings made for BBC Radio 3's World Routes programme (Sunday evenings), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The show has recorded great musicians on their home territory from Azerbaijan to Venezuela, from Mali to Madagascar. There are well-known artists here - Toumani Diabaté from Mali, Tito Paris from Cape Verde, Alim Qasimov from Azerbaijan - but most are known only within their own communities. Everyone will find their favourites among the 30 tracks, and when you do it's worth getting the back story from the original programmes, which are archived on the Radio 3 website.  
SIMON BROUGHTON

Chuck Loeb
Plain 'n' Simple
(C.A.R.E.)
***

Smooth Jazz albums tend to be cloyingly sweet, yet it would be a mistake to tar all their contributors with the same gooey brush. Some, like guitarist Chuck Loeb, are made of sterner stuff. Though best known for his sleek fusion work with Fourplay, he cuts loose here in a soulful trio with Hammond-organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Harvey Mason. Their 10 uncomplicated originals, mostly by Loeb and all made for jamming, build satisfying grooves. Germany's nimble trumpeter Till Bronner enhances Red Suede Shoes, and a Sergio Mendes-like bossa nova features Portuguese vocals by Loeb's wife, Carmen Cuesta. Their daughter Lizzy pops up with Skylark, a Hoagy Carmichael classic languidly performed in received Norah Jones manner. It's all good.
JACK MASSARIK