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Paula Bares the Heart of a Travelling Soul

I would never sink to blind gender generalizations, but it does seem in my experience that women get the travel bug more than men. Now this may have to do with the fact that every decent lady friend I've ever had has moved away from Edmonton for at least a while - teaching in Japan, working in Malawi, slumming in Barcelona, disappearing into the forests of Vancouver Island. Is it true that women in their younger days won't put up with the monotony of hoser life?

An entire book could be written on the subject.

Paula Toledo is a nice, light sampling of this traveller's soul.Her first full-length, the ironically named Stay Awhile, is bubbling with movement. It's wistful, hopeful and sung beautifully. And while Charles de Gaulle Airport gets a nod, it's actually lines like "I would believe that there's nothing you think is worth leaving behind" and "we'll leave it all before it thaws, this city of our frozen ghosts" that underline this thesis.

A transplant from Montreal to Vancouver herself, Toledo understands a lot of things about truly big city angst that you and I are likely immune to. This album certainly does remind me of the need to cry out and be noticed in the uncaring streets of Van, where nary a resident escapes being stolen from, where no one meets your eye as you walk down the street under the umbrella.

Toledo's singing contradicts this mood - it's warm and lovely without a lot of the nasal tricks and leg-showing that Canadian chanteuses often resort to instead of coming up with good pop-folk melodies. Listening to this, I feel nostalgic. And that's worth something.