New Music : January 25, 2010 - February 01, 2010

Corinne Bailey Rae "The Sea"
This songstress made her initial splash in 2006 with a #1 UK album and sleeper U.S. hit ("Put Your Records On") that positioned her as another hip Adult Contemporary newcomer in the soul-jazz-pop mode of Norah Jones, Madeline Peyroux, and Melody Gardot. Her follow-up four years later sounds more robust and assured than its mellow predecessor. While some of that growth may have been triggered by the accidental death of her husband in 2008, Rae and her collaborators say she was already stepping up her game before tragedy struck. Cuts like "Paris Nights/New York Mornings" and the funky "Feels Like The First Time" have more meat on their bones--check out the organ on the sinuous "The Blackest Lily"!!

Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"
Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, and Hillary Scott enjoyed success right out of the gate. Their 2008 self-titled debut topped the country charts, and spun off three hits, including "I Run To You." With two 2009 CMA victories under their belt, the Grammy Award-nominated threesome seems poised to continue its winning streak with "Need You Now." They certainly didn't tinker with a successful formula. Their sophomore set is once again produced by Paul Worley (Dixie Chicks, Big & Rich), with the band co-writing eight out of eleven selections. In addition to the title tune, which was a #1 country single for five weeks last year and looks to cross over to pop radio stations a la Taylor Swift or Faith Hill. "Need You Now" also includes their current smash, the restless childhood meditation "American Honey."

The Magnetic Fields "Realism"
In the wake of 2008's Jesus and Mary Chain-inspired "Distortion," Stephin Merritt and his band once again change tack for the ninth album from that takes its cues from late '60s and early '70s psychedelic folk and orchestral pop. The album eschews electronic instruments, instead weaving its beguiling spell with timbres ranging from tablas to tuba, autoharp to accordion; tinkling toy piano adds deceptive whimsy to "The Dolls' Tea Party." The cd opener - "You Must Be Out of Your Mind" is up to par there with their other hit, "I Don't Believe You" in his ever-growing catalog of vitriolic dismissals of former paramours. "We Are Having A Hootenanny" includes the unforgettable couplet "do-si-do down/to our hoedown."

Charlotte Gainsbourg "Irm"
The French actress ("The Science of Sleep," Lars von Trier's controversial "Antichrist") has never wanted for musical collaborators: Her father, the legendary and Serge Gainsbourg oversaw her earliest work, while Air, Jarvis Cocker, the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich all worked on her 2006 full-length "5.55." For "IRM," Gainsbourg teams with Beck, who produced the thirteen-track album, and also composed the music and co-wrote lyrics for all but one song. Gainsbourg's breathy vocals will never give Mariah Carey pause, but she radiates commanding presence, and seems equally at home on tunes with a vintage pop sensibility ("In The End" recalls François Hardy at her dreamy '60s best) and experimental fare (the crunchy, percussive "Master's Hands").

Other New Releases Worth Checking Out:
(Have not listened to, but please feel free to post a review)

* Patty Griffin: "Downtown Church" (listen)
* Barry Manilow: "The Greatest Love Songs of All Time"
* Basia Bulat: "Heart of My Own"