Rating: NN
With Nelly Furtado desperately trying to bury the yummy-mummy image she crafted for her last disc by promoting a “Promiscuous” club-ho persona, you’ve gotta give Canrock mama Chantal Kreviazuk props for refusing to pander to a youth market by forcing an awkward reinvention (both musical and personality-wise). Continuing the project of sophisticated-but-hooky epic piano-pounding anthems that’s Kreviazuk’s career trademark, Ghost Stories does little to mess with her steez. The biggest change is that the disc marks her first time working with husband Raine Maida as a producer. He does fine work, layering blustery strings over her stormier ballads-for-angry-moods, adding globally inspired Peter Gabrielesque effects to the dramatic inspirational ditties about global politics and pulling back on Kreviazuk’s bouncier Alanis-leaning happy pop songs. But perhaps because of the generic lyrical treatment, or because of Kreviazuk’s commitment to the mainstream Kate Bush sound she’s spent years developing, something about Ghost Stories feels anachronistic and lacks staying power. If Michelle Branch’s mom released an album, it’d probably sound a lot like this.
