Total Freedom by Kathleen Edwards
4 Stars
Singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards has such a steep career trajectory that she fell into that unenviable category of artists where producers, industry types and others were telling her how she should sound, and what she should be doing next. It all became too heavy a burden to bear so she dropped out, choosing to run her successful small coffee shop, bar, and café aptly named Quitters in her hometown of Stittsville, ON Canada. So, like her business, this album title, Total Freedom, is also aptly named – she’s put aside all the so-called expectations and delivered an album the way she wanted to after her period of self-reflection. The themes are essentially about resilience and newfound optimism.
As mentioned, most of these songs fall into either the resilience or optimistic/fresh start camp. “Hard on Everyone” is about newfound awareness and was written on the “floor of my empty house after leaving a bad situation.” “Birds on a Feeder” has released as single and speaks to newfound lack of responsibilities, simply just feeding the birds and caring for the dogs. Her drawn-out “oooh” at the end is gorgeous. “Simple Math” is inspired by a childhood friend she reconnected with, who helped her put the words around the phrase she’d been carrying for some time – ‘love is simple math.’ “Options Open,” another single, was rather unintentionally written about her own situation, instead originally written as an expression of love to someone.
Fool’s Ride” is another of the self-realization songs, comparing her own life to a podcast called “dirty john” of all things. She calls it her “armour song of late.” Like most of the songs, it floats over a layered bed of echoing keys and guitars and heavy use of reverb on lots of levels. Yet, her voice is such a beautifully strong instrument, it gloriously soars over any backdrop. Listen closely though and you’ll hear some bitterness and sarcasm in this one. “Who Rescued Who,” is a tearjerker but mostly an ode of appreciation to her dog that she had to put down. The closer, “Take It With You When You Go,” begins hauntingly as it’s a painful song for Edwards in many ways. She at first didn’t want to include it but was convinced to keep it on the album, partly because the ending has a note of finality, like a door closing. Thus, the close.
It’s rather remarkable considering that Edwards has been off our radar for six years. It’s just like calling up an old friend you hadn’t talked to in years and within the first few moments of conversation, it seems that the time gap just evaporates. That’s the same effect – her stance may have changed but her voice remains so distinctively familiar.