Kathleen Edwards’ full-length debut arrives a few months after she was heralded as the next Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow, and Cowboy Junkies all rolled into one. (After all, she’s a female singer who plays guitar, right?) While some songs may be fleetingly reminiscent of the aforementioned artists’ work, listening to Failer makes it obvious that Edwards is an original.

The album’s opening (and best) song, "Six O’Clock News" is a saddening tale of a pregnant woman whose lover has become involved in a standoff with police: "And I tried to come clean, but I guess it’s no use/ Your face is all over six o’clock news/ They cleared the street and then they closed the schools/ I can’t even get inside." Despite the song’s morbid theme, Edwards sings in an unmistakably upbeat manner. The track is bouncy, the chorus is catchy, and the lyrics are about an absolute tragedy. Somehow, it still works.

The rest of Failer continues in much the same vein. Tunes like the excellent "One More Song the Radio Won’t Like" and "Mercury" straddle the line of the melodic and the melancholic almost perfectly. "Westby" paints adultery as a whimsical joyride; "And if you weren’t so old I’d probably keep you/ If you weren’t so old I’d tell my friends/ But I don’t think your wife would like my friends." This song is so blatantly tongue-in-cheek that it’s obvious Edwards had a great time making it.

The end of the record gets somewhat bogged down in vague sentimentalities, and the songs "Maria" and "Sweet Little Duck" probably could have been left out, but who releases eight-song albums anymore? Regardless, this is a promising debut from a singer/ songwriter who may one day live up to her own hype. Overall, Failer is a long way from failure.

Tom Donnelly