You Can See Everything

Album Review

Though Brooke Miller launched her professional music career in a punk band during her adolescence growing up on Prince Edward Island, she later gravitated to the innovative folk-rock of fellow Canadian Bruce Cockburn. On her compelling breakthrough indie debut, she combines his influence with slight winks to rock, country, blues, Irish flavors, and the cool enigma that is Rickie Lee Jones to create a unique hybrid style around her clear, husky vocals. That voice stands out best on stark, acoustic guitar driven story-songs like "Two Soldiers," and straightforward interpersonal expressions like "Everywhere," but she can't completely escape her punchy rock roots, infusing "Trouble Where You Seek It" with a fiery country-rock blues passion. There's also this playful contrast with two of the album's best cuts, the rousing rocker "Country from the Dome Car" and the sweet, sparse, and eloquent (with a touch of blues) "There You Are." "Country from the Dome Car" can be enjoyed as a simple toe-tapper, but there's an element of autobiography to enjoy as well. The song reflects Miller's discovery of the word beyond her home island from the unique perspective of a distinctly Canadian contraption during a three-day festival called Roots on the Rails that happened on a train between Toronto and Vancouver. While Miller is quite proficient on acoustic guitar, her husband, multiple national Fingerstyle Champion and former Narada recording artist Don Ross, adds some amazing textures as the project's co-producer. These include touches of dobro, lap steel, charango, electric guitar, and mandolin. Aaron Davis' Hammond B-3 harmonies are another powerful highlight on one of the most exhilarating and heartfelt indie debuts of 2007.