Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 04/10/2007
The bilingual multi-instrumentalist (guitar/piano) and vocalist will likely be lumped with fellow Canadian
blues women such as
Sue Foley (who was instrumental in bringing her to
Ruf's attention), but on the basis of this sophomore release, that's misleading. Rather, the Ottawa raised musician infuses
blues into a variety of
singer/songwriter styles.
The Way It Feels, which was released in Canada almost a year before it came out in the States, revels in different musical set pieces that display
Roxanne Potvin's sultry voice and eclectic stylings. The guest roster of
Daniel Lanois,
John Hiatt,
Bruce Cockburn and
Memphis Horns veteran
Wayne Jackson indicates that
Potvin is comfortable in styles besides the
blues and
R&B that characterize, but doesn't monopolize, this album. Terrific, even revelatory covers of
Joe Tex's
"I Want To (Do Everything for You)" and
Freddie King's
"Your Love Keeps Working on Me" find
Potvin immersed in the
soul aspects of the
blues, and her own compositions that dominate this set occasionally follow suit. The lovely solo piano ballad
"Don't Pay Attention" is clearly aimed at the
Norah Jones crowd, as is the
waltz time, French-sung
"La Merveille." The jazzy
"While I Wait for You," which features vibes along with
Cockburn's electric guitar and producer
Colin Linden's dobro, is another successful musical side road.
Potvin shifts into '60s mode with her own
"Caught Up," a song that could have been penned by
Carole King during her
Brill Building days, and a frisky,
girl group charged cover of
Jackie DeShannon's
"Break Away." In other places, the disc shows why
Potvin was nominated for a Maple
Blues Award as Female Vocalist of the Year and also received a Juno nomination for "Blues Album of the Year." The opening swamp of
"A Love That's Simple" sounds like a great lost
Stax track (it's an original), and on the
gospel-edged
"Say It", a cover of a minor hit from
the "5" Royales, Potvin references the classic
doo wop era. Producer
Linden helps tie these diverse strands together, as well as adding various guitars to the mix for a release that should put
Potvin on the map as a talented newcomer who refuses to be pigeonholed.
~Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide
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