Ellen Froese - Fightin' Words (2019)

Saskatoon-based singer-songwriter Ellen Froese could share a stage with almost anybody, from Patsy Cline to k.d. lang to Daniel Romano (during his cowboy phase). That is to say that Froese's countrified songs, including those on her latest album, Fightin' Words, are so versatile that they transcend time.

On Fightin' Words, Froese pens classic country love ballads, in "Sometimes" and "Love Is (Bigger Than Us)," that meditate on love's tough and tender times, while on the honky-tonk closer "High School," she sets listeners down in a truck that's blasting country music and criss-crossing across America; whether it's America in 2019 or 1959 is unclear.

Elsewhere on Fightin' Words, it's only Froese's voice, a warm, textured warble that will please even the snottiest country music purist, that gives away the fact that she may own a bolo tie. Froese and her band borrow heavily from doo-wop and rock'n'roll traditions and even dabble with punk on "Happy Alone." In the album's standout "Eaton's Spring & Summer 1975," Froese tells the story of an Eaton's catalogue cover girl coming to life in a very fun and energetic rock track.

Froese takes listeners on a journey through time and genres on Fightin' Words. It's an album that feels both familiar and completely unique.