I'm going to skip right past this week's offerings by Mariah Carey and Hannah Montana (hope you don't mind) and kick off with one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Kris Delmhorst. Her new release is Shotgun Singer and it's fantastic. When her manager first told me about the new project, she said it was happier than her past efforts which made me sad. Kris does heartache way better than most and has gotten me through some tough times. Nevertheless, I put in the disc and beheld the glory. I really wouldn't call it a happy record. It's not really sad or dark, either. Let's go with tags like moody and contemplative, even rough-hewn to a certain degree. The vibe created by producer Sam Kassirer is utterly compelling and enveloping.

The Submarines return this week with Honeysuckle Weeks. It's a pretty great sophomore effort from the alt-pop duo. The melodies and instrumentation both seem to have more diversity than on the last outing, and Blake (the girl) also takes the lead voice more often than not. This is a really fun and inventive project, slightly reminiscent of The Cardigans' best work (which, for me, is Long Gone Before Daylight), though the Subs don't feel quite as dark. They definitely bring the sunshine along on this one.


Somewhere on the spectrum that includes duos such as The Submarines and She & Him is where we should stick Wye Oak. Originally released under the Monarch moniker, If Children was just re-issued. It bounces between aggressively edgy garage rock and soft-spoken, pseudo-folk meanderings. On first listen, I prefer the latter, but catch me in a different mood and I'll crank the harder stuff. It's pretty good, this record. I wouldn't give it the five stars it has so far in iTunes, but I'll grant it the four it has in eMusic.