Quiet wisdom and mirth intertwine in the work of Kathleen Edwards, born in 1978 in Ottawa, Canada. The veteran singer-songwriter has been very reliable, if not exactly prolific, since first releasing music in the late '90s. You can hear her quiet assurance across 2012’s Voyageur, co-produced with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. And on “Options Open,” a confident standout from 2020’s aptly titled Total Freedom, she self-reflects with wry understatement: “For 39 years I’ve been keeping my options open.” Whether she’s leaning into rootsy Americana or dreamy indie rock, her voice remains clear and breezy, with a firm emphasis on her writerly yet unpretentious lyrics. Even when taking notable gaps between albums—including exiting the music business for almost eight years to run a small coffee shop—Edwards always sounds like she’s picking up from exactly where she left off.