Amelia Curran - Spectators (2012)

The Juno winning artist has charted a course through longing and loss with lyrics that face life's beauties and terrors with disconsolate urgency. Produced by John Critchley, Spectators brings surprises, including brass, strings, piano, and rumbling percussion. "What Will You Be Building," a downtrodden Dixieland dirge, distills existence into one essential question. "The Modern Man" is another standout track - Curran's stark vision stands sharply against a dark, tense, shivering backdrop. Even, or perhaps especially, the love songs, cut through the bone. In particular, the earthquake heartache of "San Andreas Fault," is as graceful as it is devastating.