Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers

It's taken a little while, but Asking for Flowers has grown on me. More folksy and perhaps a tad more wide-ranging than her previous records, it's also, I think, more sophisticated - the songs are less immediate, but somehow more deeply musical and faceted. Downbeat "Alicia Ross" is a case in point - delicate and wistful, but lit with a strong emotional burn, it's miles ahead of the slower songs on Failer and Back To Me; and the rockers, too, are more nuanced than previous efforts without sacrificing the catchiness that's such a strength of Edwards' - witness "The Cheapest Key", "I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory" and "Oil Man's War"...and in a different category again is the title track, a mid-tempo tune which just hits the spot. All of that said, I don't think that Flowers will replace Back To Me in my affections - that other is too closely wrapped up with a particular time and mood for me to be impeachable, and its high points are higher...but it's really damn solid anyway.