Sun Again is a journey into lessons learned and love, love, love. A softer side of the quick-tongued, in-your-face BC musician Kinnie Starr is revealed here. This CD’s catchy beats will have you nodding your head slowly with your eyes closed. But it is obvious on this album that Kinnie’s eyes are wide open.

“I had a record deal once, rolling of the dice was the making of the dunce, my lack of education prevented liberation while the man in the nice suit checked my ass, did I pass? I never asked I just ran fast.” On “Super Clever” Kinnie sums up what tied down her last album Tune Up and what this album is free from. So consider Sun Again the real follow-up to her much acclaimed first release Tidy, because it’s felt from the heart, not limited by industry expectations.

In contrast to Starr’s Tidy, Sun Again is less a quilt of styles leaning in the direction of indie rock and more a unified path on the way to a trip-hop groove. Starr has created a cohesive sound. It’s as if you could remove the pauses between tracks and this album could flow song to song almost flawlessly, as if they were built upon each other in a way that was casual, like a conversation, not contrived, like the long process of putting out an album.

Sun Again has an effortless feel. It is a well-conceived and produced album, tight, sexy and smooth. It is gentle in a way much of Kinnie’s past works have not been, though occasionally it can be a tad too light, leaving you craving something heavier to anchor the floating feel. But if you listen all the way through to the hidden track there is resolution.

Kinnie makes more room for her sweet voice to sing on many tracks like “Come” and the Tune Up revival track “Warm.” And although there is slightly less opportunity to showcase her trademark rhymes, when they do take over, as on “Discovered” and “E-merge” her lyrical delivery is as precise as always. Sun Again is not about daggers, it’s about cupid’s arrows, an optimistic offering that is more accessible and closer to mainstream than she has ever been.

But Starr is still unique. It is her long- awaited exhale, releasing the sweet playful celebration of her return to music her way, and it is defiantly better that way.

* Sun Again is released on Tue, May 6. Kinnie Starr plays the El Mocambo (464 Spadina Ave) on Thu, May 29. For info: www.kinniestarr.ca.

SUN AGAIN.

Kinnie Starr.

Maple Music. $9.99.