I seem to have caught Kyra Gordon at a transition point. Her second album, Traveler, sees her moving away from the jazz influences that colored Soul of a Showgirl and embracing more rock, roots and Americana flavors. But that isn’t to say that the songs here are any less deft and delicious; it is just that they echo with a more rootsy resonance.
If the opening title track sets the tone, a galloping yet graceful slice of alt-country, for want of a better term, it is “Nashville, You Fooled Me,” which follows that really catches my attention. In this song built of gentle acoustic cascades and slow-burning anthemics, we get a real sense of how great a singer she is and, as she relates how the town smashed her “pedal-steel dreams,” a fantastically poetic lyricist too.
“Balloons on Your Grave” is touching and tender, poignant and drifting. “Burn It Down” shows us that she is just as comfortable with stadium-ready country rock as she is with the more delicate deliveries. “California” rounds things off with a supple and subtle, piano-driven anthem to that great state.
I must confess that I’m a late-comer to Kyra Gordon’s music, joining her growing band of musical admirers upon hearing the brilliant “F U Cancer.” But it is not until you hear an entire album that you really get to know an artist properly, and it is safe to say that Traveler is one of those albums that will be going from the review pile straight to the well-thumbed end of my personal record collection. And that doesn’t happen very often.
