Haunting arrangements, beautiful vocals, and intricate songs decorate Jenny Berkel’s Here on a Wire. Recorded in Winnipeg by Matt Peters (Royal Canoe, The Waking Eyes), Here on a Wire features well arranged guitars, piano, upright bass, cello, banjo, horns, and woodwinds to create a delicate yet full bodied book of ghost stories in song form. Berkel’s songwriting is strong throughout, evoking cold afternoons in January, long night journeys through endless highways, and lonely spaces. This disc is perfect for a dark afternoon spent around the house, enjoying tea or coffee, enjoyably sheltered from the wet city streets. The album reminds me greatly of Christine Fellows album 2 Little Birds in a number of ways, and that’s a good thing. Like Fellows, Berkel has a keen sense of story and feeling that she balances throughout her songs on this album. Well worth repeated spins. (Independent, jennyberkel.com) Sheldon Birnie