LHASA - S/T

When discussing her astounding trilingual 2004 album The Living Road, Lhasa offered that the songs on that record chose the language in which they were going to be sung, be it Spanish, French or English, but even the all-English titles found on the back of this record don't quite prepare you for Lhasa's gentle country-ballad opener "Is Anything Wrong", seemingly miles removed from the dark Spanish beauty of her debut. Then, there in the bridge, it appears--a subtle Latin hand-clapping break that provides the flavour we were expecting all along. Lhasa may only have two other albums to her credit, but they cast a long shadow amongst her faithful and she seems playfully aware of it, this time creating an album that explores what her voice can mine from her Anglo songbook. Though capably backed by members of the Godspeed/Silver Mt. Zion collective, this album is not anywhere as dark or intense as similarly-staffed excursions by Carla Bozulich as Evangelista. In fact, after a few spins, the more things change the more they stay the same--different palette, new colours, same uniquely expressive painter.