After retiring from music and opening up her own cafe (ominously named Quitters) I never thought we would be hearing new music from Kathleen Edwards. But here we are, and I couldn’t be happier.

“Options Open” is the lead single to her brand new album Total Freedom, out August 14. Of her break, Edwards says “I had no desire to write, no desire to play. It allowed me all the time and space I needed to even just enjoy listening to music again. There were so many times where, if I was thinking about my own writing or playing, my heart just wasn't in it. I don’t want to write songs that are going to keep me in a dark place for two years. I didn’t have to carry a lot of the pressure of whatever course I was on previously…There’s a pressure sometimes to keep that ball rolling, and that’s what was so freeing about stopping altogether and starting again. I realized I’m entirely in control and deciding what my course of action is.”