You Were Here
Sarah Harmer, the former lead singer of the Canadian band Weeping Tile, steps out with a U.S. solo debut that seems at first a timid guest and then quickly turns into a valued presence. In incorporating roots, pop, and folk sensibilities, Harmer performs what might be called "homemade" music, writing intensely personal lyrics about relationship anticipation and angst, setting them afloat on simple guitars, drum loops, and cello and clarinet solos. "Why do they call it the past / When nothing's past?" she sings in a whispered soprano on the opening cut, "Around This Corner." But it's hardly downer music. Mostly, Harmer peddles poetic ruminations about emotional journeys, cast in pleasing metaphors--an elegant moonlight ride ("Lodestar"), a basement apartment ("below street level, barely alive"), and unspoken infidelity ("there's a coffee stain around your eye"). From stories of menacing shadows to boundless faith, you won't mistake it for background music.--Alanna Nash