One writer puts it best: “Fellow Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen once titled an album Songs From A Room. Montreal-based Julie Doiron apparently took up residence there and removed whatever furniture was left behind.” Heart And Crime is the follow-up to the much acclaimed Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars (winner of the coveted Canadian entertainment award, the Juno, for 2000) and comes hot on the heels of the French-sung Jagjaguwar release Desormais. Like her previous records, Heart And Crime abhors unneccessary accoutrements. It relies on naked and minimal arrangements to propel familiar themes of self-doubt, hope, longing and sadness. The tone of intimacy throughout the record is like that which comes after three bottles of wine; a solitary singer with guitar, singing to herself, accompanied only by the sounds coming through the wall. Described frequently in the press as an “indie-diva” or “chanteuse” of the highest power, Doiron fits these well-intentioned approbations only in that she is a woman singer comfortable in her own skin. Under-reported are her signature guitar-stylings and her singular mastery of earnestly conveying mood and sentiment in the body of song. The latter is where she outpaces contemporaries like Edith Frost, Mia Doi Todd, Catpower, Elliot Smith or Beth Orton. Doiron seems destined for the pantheon of important singer-songwriters of this generation, and her affective powers are significant. According to another writer, Doiron’s “moody minor key whispers make Joni Mitchell seem almost giddy by comparison.” Julie Doiron began her career in music in 1990 at the age of 18 in Moncton, New Brunswick Canada playing bass in Eric’s Trip, a folky yet psychedelic band that was to become the undisputed underground darling of Canadian Music. Eric’s Trip were the first of many maritime Canadians signed to Sub Pop and found international recognition releasing several albums and touring widely. Following 1996’s Purple Blue, Eric’s Trip announced their breakup and Julie Doiron embarked on her solo career, first releasing songs as “Broken Girl” but then under her own name. Since then she has worked with a veritable Who’s Who list of independent rock giants, including Dave Shouse (Grifters), Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) and Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, to name a few. Before finding a home with Jagjaguwar, she put out solo records with Sub Pop, Tree and on her own Sappy records.
