The sophomore release from local songstress Kayla Luky is a crisp, twangy prairie affair. Beautiful arrangements, tight instrumentation, and Luky’s great voice all combine on The Time It Takes for an enjoyable ten tracks. With a focus for detail, Luky brings rural prairie life into sharp focus, pulling a Faulknerian “world in a grain of sand” trip on listeners. Hailing from Grandview, MB, Luky recorded The Time It Takes in the depths of winter at her family home there. The space of the house is audible, giving the album a decidedly open quality, and her songs the room to expand and breathe. “My Flowers Are Empty” is sure to tug on listeners’ heartstrings, while “You Won’t Find Me” is a haunting tale of fugitive love. Overall, Luky’s songwriting is strong, though a couple tracks are a bit too cliché for my tastes — opener “Cowboys Are Coming” being a good example of this tendency. Regardless, this disc is a beauty, and I would expect to hear more from Kayla Luky around Manitoba’s vibrant folk and roots scene soon. (Independent, kaylaluky.ca) Sheldon Birnie