| · Dan Tapanila, Steve Coffey and Dave Bauer help out Helen Highwater, a.k.a. Charlott Wilson, on this seven-track, 20-minute charm bracelet of a CD.
When Helen Highwater took to the stage in March during the Alberta Sessions at the Centre for Performing Arts, her slightly self-deprecating manner immediately caught the audience’s attention. But the attitude was soon overshadowed by her songwriting, particularly her lyrics. The titter of laughter that went up at the end of many choruses was composed of a mixture of mirth and self-recognition.
Highwater chronicles commonly unpleasant situations, then soaks the sting out with humour. Her comic-strip vocals provide the perfect delivery for songs like "Twisted Up & Bitter" – "Well he slept with all my friends/I didn’t much like this/In need of some condolence/I slept with all of his." The music is a wolf-whistle complementing Highwater’s lyrics – saucy and riffy, the acoustic sounds are entwined like limbs and conversations at a kitchen party, and the homey feeling is much the same. The only flaw with the album is that there’s not enough of it.
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