Some songs hit home on first hearing and this is true of the standout track on this album. Love Doesn't Hurt is an instant classic which juxtaposes the crazy joy of being in love with the negative instincts it arouses.
The song is about people stuck in abusive relationships and was inspired by Oprah Winfrey's show on the subject of domestic violence, broadcast in the wake of the high profile spat between Rihanna and Chris Brown.
Both in terms of its message and arrangement, it is simplicity itself but contains lines that make an immediate impact : "Love doesn't cut you or slap your face / leave a scar you can't erase".
It is a measure of the song's resonance that people who work in women's shelters have praised it and told her that they want to play it to their clients.
While no-one would argue that bullying and violence have any place in loving relationships, Lynn Miles' songs lay testament to the fact that love does indeed hurt in lots of other ways.
The emotional pain that so often goes with the territory is the theme of Save Me ("You turned my heart into a stone", Goodbye (a touching duet with Jim Bryson) is about the aching moment of realisation that a relationship just isn't working any more and in Cracked And Broken she concedes that "bandages and glue" cannot mend a broken heart.
This is the Canadian singer songwriter's eighth album and stands as a statement of resilience and hope in the face life's hardships and heartaches. It compares favourably to the best work of Lucinda Williams or Mary Chapin Carpenter and, as with these artists, she is at her best when at her most vulnerable.
Without ever being weighed down by bitterness or wallowing in self pity, she confesses, in I Will, that "My story reads like a tragic romance". This song speaks of a belief in her capacity to survive even when events seem to be conspiring to crush her spirit.
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The opening track,Something Beautiful, is a plea for something to counteract the trials and traumas of modern living: "We want bells to ring, we want doves to fly, we want banners waving in a clear blue sky".While Miles is realistic enough to recognise that there 'is a wide gulf between wishing and getting, this doesn't prevent her form making another check list of needs in the song, Fearless Heart : "I wish I had a straighter line, a better view and a cleaner mess, new shoes and a party dress".
A self deprecating humour pulls her through and,above all, these tunes strike home as honest songs of experience. "I learnt my limitations my lessons and frustrations" she sings on the autobiographical Three Chords And The Truth.
Alongside this worldly wisdom she also shows compassion for those without a safety net who seek truth in drink or drugs. Little Bird was composed after reading In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts , book by Gabor Mate about coping with addiction, ("show them that you're in there underneath the dirt")
Only on the overproduced closing track (Time To Let In The Sun) does she resort to more banal platitudes like "Don't let your worries get in the way".
Poetic, poignant and , above all, personal; this is an exceptional collection of songs.
Lynn Miles' Website
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