I Know You're Married but I've Got Feelings Too

As strong as Martha Wainwright's self-titled debut album was, her second full-length effort, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, feels like a dazzling surprise, surpassing the first record in artistry and ambition and offering an even more striking picture of her talents. Wainwright's songwriting is every bit as strong on this collection as on her first album (no small achievement), and her skill at defining a character in words is impressive indeed, with uneven relationships dominating but not entirely defining the many people Wainwright brings to life here. As a singer, she's gone from strength to strength on I Know You're Married; sounding like some remarkable fusion of Kate Bush, Patti Smith, and Kate McGarrigle (the latter happens to be her mom), Wainwright has learned how to draw out the drama from songs like "Comin' Tonight," "Bleeding All Over You," and "The George Song," though she's intelligent enough to do so without sinking into melodrama.