A performer on Canada's folk scene over the past decade, Meredith Moon plays her own compositions alongside traditional numbers, distinguishing herself from the army of singer-songwriters who know nothing of the latter. She conjures up songs awash in rich, moody melodies that catch the ear in a way, at least in my experience and taste, that many of the competition doesn't get close to.

Constellations is her second album (I have not heard the first) and her first on an outside label -- namely True North, one of Canada's handful of venerable folk imprints. Moon and True North make for a steady, graceful partnership. The spare, almost spooky production (basically guitar, banjo, double bass, percussion) rises to the occasion. Moon's well-crafted originals are only generically like anybody else's that come to mind, though I suppose that when one is seeking to express high praise it's always possible to pull the names of Joni Mitchell and the late Sandy Denny out of the musical ether.

My sole complaint, no doubt petty enough, is that the title song starts with "nostalgia." Not a good word for a song, much less the album's most prominent cut, even less its opening. (Actually, not a good word for much of anything except as a synonym for "cheap sentiment.") The word is "memories" which, moreover, scans.

This small matter aside, the quality of the material rarely falters. At the moment my favorite originals are ... well, actually it's hard, surely pointless, to pick such. Even so, one has to admire a songwriter who would dare to put forth something titled "Mark Twain" and do it successfully. I am further enamored of her version of "Soldier's Joy" -- from the War of 1812, possibly earlier -- with its stirring vocal and banjo arrangement.

Maybe Moon's gift owes a debt to good genes, never a guarantee in musical matters where genius can fail, usually does, in the succeeding generation. (I mention no names.) That doesn't happen here, not by a molecule. Moon's father, referred to only as a "parent" in the liner notes, is Gordon Lightfoot.

[ visit Meredith Moon's website ]