jig, is suffused with both temptation and tension. The signature lyric of
You Were Here is from the title track: "I could lie to myself, and say I like it/But I'd love it if you were here." The song has none of the goopy melodrama of your typical Sarah McLachlan joint, just a simple melody, an upright bass and the overwhelming ambience of still winter air, and it's infinitely more powerful because of these things. Harmer sings like someone who doesn't have a cynical bone in her body, but she drops so much lyrical straight-shooting that she turns
You Were Here into a marvelously compelling meditation on the imperfection of the whole love thing. A dozen killer songs doesn't sour the deal, either. (RS 862)
PAT BLASHILL