Long ago there was some theory that movies are made in threes. Two safe, one that the artist really wants to do and takes full risk on achieving. See: Keanu Reeve’s career…maybe recommend a few of those “safe roles.”

Any way you look at it, there tends to be this feeling of complacency in art at times and great risk at others. Canadian badass and overall amazing musician Terra Lightfoot has never really felt as though she’s playing any form of a safe card, but there is no mistake that her New Mistakes is a power swing to the fences that is nothing short of a homerun.

New Mistakes sheds the reflective ideology of Every Time My Mind Runs Wild and bears her teeth in both songwriting and instrumental in what is absolutely, positively the best possible scenario for a follow up album any one could hope. Lightfoot breathes thirteen tracks of unabashed poetic bliss woven into a tapestry of stomp, heartfelt passion, and bold strokes of refreshing vocal prowess.

Donning the leather boots and grit, “Paradise” takes a stand that is both attention grabbing and full of a more female led power than Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande could muster together. Getting your hopes up with such an invigorating intro can usually end up in letdown. Lightfoot is the exception to this rule. Boldly laying down her dancing fret riffs in her Canadian Rock stylings Mistakes addictively entertains. “Pinball King” is the audible equivalent of an impromptu summer’s day road trip with the top down and wind in your hair while tossing care out the window. “Stars Over Dakota” is rollicking reflection that is as vivid as it is fun. But it is “Slicked Back Kid” that stops you in your tracks. The heavy-handed swagger and vocal waves are pure, unwavering, bliss marked in attitude and harmony all at once. Interlaced with the rock is the dichotomy of Lightfoot’s talent that sets her sound apart from the rest. Beautifully ornate, subtly simple singer/songwriter forms take shape in “You Get High,” “Three In The Morning,” and the stunning “Norma Gale.”

The balance achieved in New Mistakes is on point. The songs are captivating on many, many levels. Because the album is a dawning of a bolder side of Terra Lightfoot, to apply the theory that this may be a risk, I can definitively, unequivocally state that this risk paid off hand-over-fist. New Mistakes is anything but a mistake.

Greg is a co-founder and regular contributor of Nanobot Rock.