Kathleen Edwards - Goodnight, California

This moody, atmospheric piece off Kathleen Edwards' third album Asking For Flowers (2008) is six and a half minutes of naked loneliness and longing, about staying in the most lonesome place there is, a bar at around closing time. The song's arrangement is amazing, featuring an eerie violin, a lonely harmonica, guitar work not unlike fellow Canadian Neil Young, a Hammond organ that sounds just as haunted and Edwards' wail of a voice towards the end of the song, after the initial verses. It's an epic track, stunning in its beauty and simplicity.

Studio version - listen

And if that's not enough, here's a great live version. It lacks the harmonica, but is one minute longer and just as good. You should enjoy this too!

Live version - watch and listen