kd lang's musical DNA

After wrapping her fine vocal chords around the American songbook on her last solo album, kd lang turned her attention to songwriters from her native Canada. This ‘recovered’ country-singer, who evolved into an astonishing crooner, has done a fantastic job, as one would expect.

The fact she’s included two tracks from Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jane Sibbery and Leonard Cohen may say something about the number of top-quality songwriters in about a half of the North American continent… Still, it also exemplifies a choice taste for tunes which most suit her smooth and effortless style.

And, to let her voice flourish, it is often accompanied by a solitary piano. All canned with such panache but Mitchell’s ‘A Case Of You’, Sibbery’s ‘The Valley’ and Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ are worth the price alone. Perhaps - priceless: TV’s ephemeral and it is the case of here today, gone by the next commercial break.

Some detractors-cum-cynics may claim this to be no more than Saga-music* but iGen needs it to get the f**king education the gov’t failed to provide ‘em with!? [In case you are a victim of British state education, the 49th parallel is the political divide/border between the Canucks and the Yanks.] And, there can’t be a better teacher than this… person, whatever the gender may be.

And, Canadian songwriting is specific…? “It is to me,” kd said in a recent interview, “but it’s very subtle. I could try to define it but it really is just a recognition of similarity between people from Canada. I’m not saying this exclusively but Canadian songwriters tend to rely on the geography of Canada, the environment and the elements of Canadian living to express themselves spiritually and emotionally. It’s part of my music DNA,” she concluded.

Ms Kathryn Dawn Lang could have also covered something unexpected, such as a Rush song, or something by Guess Who… It would be very interesting to hear this mighty voice deliver ‘Talisman’ instead of Cohen‘s ‘Bird On A Wire’, for instance.

8/10
~ ~ ~

*Any dissing persons should also check Tom Jones and Jools Holland’s self-titled collaborative album, or Tom Waits’s ‘Real Gone’, due out on Monday.