Basia Bulat: Heart of My Own (Rough Trade)

Canadian singer/songwriter and auto-harp player Bulat appeared at Elsewhere with her confident if slightly disconcerting debut album Oh My Darling of '07. She has the kind of vibrato you might not have heard since Melanie's Brand New Key.

But she is a powerful folk-rock singer and here really lets her passions fly (the folk-psychedelics of the fiddle-driven Gold Rush) while also letting her literate lyrics pull you in (the poetic metaphors of Sparrow).

Again there are some ear-catching arrangements (the drums right up front in Go On, quasi-choral moments) but it is her songs (hints of Anglofolk, collar-grabbing choruses), the dramatic melodic flourishes which soar, and that striking voice which all immediately command attention.

Then you can immerse yourself in lyrics which have a slightly mystical (but not hippie-mystical) quality and are grounded in natural imagery.

If the last album went past you, you probably weren't alone. This one is certainly worth hailing down.

Highly recommended.