Although it took four years for Chantal Kreviazuk to record the follow-up to her successful disc What If It All Means Something, the Canadian singer/pianist was anything but idle in between. During that 'break' she gave birth to two children, wrote songs for Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson, and recorded her fourth disc Ghost Stories at home, with husband Raine Maida (the Our Lady Peace frontman) producing.
Ghost Stories proves to be a stylistic departure for Kreviazuk; rather than settle into warm, traditional ballads, these songs are frequently unpredictable. The classical music she studied as a child--combined with her love of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper (she references the album in the lyrics of opener "Ghosts of You")--has manifested into this evolutionary disc. Many songs come across as mini-operas, constantly morphing from one style and tempo to the next; as a result, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos comparisons will be made--especially in the frenetic "You Blame Yourself"--but the numbers remain stylistically her own. The anthemic "Asylum" is an impassioned highlight, inspired by a war refugee from the Congo, while "Mad About You" is another powerful moment, a love song whose chorus bursts wide open amidst Kreviazuk's fragile, raw vocals. Kreviazuk's unique "So Cold" veers abruptly from a straight-ahead soliloquy to an emotionally-exploding gospel-style chorus; while perhaps not destined to be a pop radio hit, it offers a glimpse of something brilliant, an evolving singer/songwriter who still has many colours yet to show. --Denise Sheppard
