Julie Doiron

Julie Doiron is so freaking happy. We're talking sappy, sweet, hearts-in-eyes and head-in-clouds happy. It's an unusual turn of events for a musician whose previous albums have been coloured by post-partum depression, parenting anxieties and a heart-rending marriage breakdown. Not to worry though, all this uncommon cheeriness hasn't spoiled her songwriting. In fact, it has resulted in a uniquely melodic and inventive follow-up to the 2007 Polaris Prize-nominated Woke Myself Up. Book-ended by two breezy, ridiculously upbeat acoustic numbers, much of the rest of the disc is filled with fuzzed-out, distorted guitars that hearken back to her Eric's Trip days. Although the shimmering melancholy of "Blue" resembles the old, tearful Doiron, the lyrical optimism and dirty snarl of electric guitar on tracks like "Spill Yer Lungs" and "Lovers of the World" proclaim categorically that a new day has dawned for the artist formerly known as "Broken Girl."