You Were Here

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

Every song on this Canadian singer-songwriter's exceptional U.S. debut album, at some point, is directed at "you," and as you listen along, every second-person reference hits its mark. Harmer's erudite but colloquial lyrics evoke the folksy smarts of the Indigo Girls; when she turns up the volume, her determinedly individualistic style of rock invites comparisons to Liz Phair. This album is like an encounter with an old college chum on the street, all the half-remembered rhythms of friendship coming back with unexpected ease.

--By Christopher John Farley