Rose Cousins

Rose Cousins has burst into bloom on The Send Off, a sophisticated follow-up to her 2006 ECMA-winning debut, If You Were For Me. On her sophomore release, the Halifax, NS-based singer-songwriter breaks away from traditional folkiness to experiment with wilder sounds and a broader spectrum of emotional colours. She brings an excellent supporting cast to this second effort, including producer/guitarist Luke Doucet, cellist Matt Brubeck and backing vocalists Kathleen Edwards, Jenn Grant and Melissa McLelland. The album opens with the exquisite "I Were The Bird," the plucked strings and a touch of reverb elevating Cousins' luminous vocals to cruising altitude. From the electric blare of "Maybe I Knew" to the lullaby simplicity of "Young Once" and the cheeky jazziness of "Celebrate," the album weaves back and forth between electric and acoustic, from heartache to intense joy, with inventive arrangements that enhance the beauty of Cousins' fresh, sincere compositions.