Julie Dorion - I Can’t Wonder What You Did With Your Day

Frustratingly, Julie Dorion spends too much of I Can’t Wonder What You Did with Your Day amidst the interminable whimsy of her kindergarten lyricism and guitar plucking. The birds chirping in the background of the innocent The Life of Dreams renders it suitable only for children’s television, whilst Glad to be Alive and Nice to Come Home's life-affirming sentiments come across as either delusional or smugly self-satisfied. Frustratingly, when she dares to darken the mood, Dorion reminds us that she can be an astute and assured, if not quite exceptional, songwriter. Lovers of the World may have stolen the blueprint from fellow Canadians Land of Talk, but it’s still a fine offering, whilst Blue’s highway-at-midnight loneliness is an aching, reverb-soaked prayer for the lovelorn, and this is where Dorion finds her niche. However, as that song's mourning refrain of "I’ll never love again" fades away, it seems this niche is not where she intends to be for long. [Paul Neeson]