‘the sea’

‘the sea’

Corinne Bailey Rae (Capitol)

Grade: A

The sadness that permeates Corinne Bailey Rae’s sophomore album, “The Sea” (Capitol), is expected. She was in the middle of working on it when her husband, Jason, died of an apparent methadone overdose in 2008. The strength and the depth? Those are true surprises.

Rae’s 2006 debut was light, her breakthrough single, “Put Your Records On,” practically the definition of breezy, an effortless sliver of acoustic soul that sounded like it could float away at any moment.

Nearly everything on “The Sea” is far heavier, more substantial. Rae’s new songs have far more rock and jazz elements than before. The opener, “Are You Here,” where she sings of her husband in the present tense over a rock guitar groove that fits between Courtney Love and Sheryl Crow, makes the most of the new sounds.

However, it’s the title track from “The Sea” that hits hardest. Swells of instruments and voices resolve into a wrenching ending. Like most of the album, it’s beautiful, well crafted and, ultimately, devastating.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

‘Need You Now’

Lady Antebellum (Capitol Nashville)

Grade: B+

Lady Antebellum’s second album, “Need You Now,” achieves what a follow-up to a million-selling debut should. It accentuates what distinguishes the trio’s talent — rich harmonies, grown-up melodies and a special group dynamic — by sounding more mature and more aware of what makes them special.

The trio of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood are country music’s biggest breakout act of the last two years behind the supernova of Taylor Swift. Besides their sales success, their debut album went No. 1, and they picked up three CMA Awards and four Grammy nominations.

“Need You Now” already has built on that momentum: The title song spent five weeks at No. 1 on the country radio charts. As with their debut, the opening hit exemplifies the group’s willingness to push country conventions: A drunken post-midnight call to an ex-lover is a bold theme for a modern country hit, but its true power comes in how well it expresses the longing that can haunt a breakup.

Those strengths run throughout the album, from the budding youthful wisdom of “American Honey” to the complexities of the love song “If I Knew Then” to the celebratory stomp of “Stars Tonight.” “Need You Now” is the sound of a young country act’s potential becoming fully realized.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘Downtown Church’

Patty Griffin (Credential Recordings)

Grade: A

Patty Griffin’s work occasionally has ventured into soul-gospel territory, as with last year’s duet with Mavis Staples on the “Oh, Happy Day” gospel compilation and on a couple of songs, such as “Heavenly Day,” from her previous album, 2007’s “Children Running Through.”

But “Downtown Church” is her first album of hymns, and it’s enough of a departure that it’s being released on EMI-distributed Christian label Credential Recordings rather than on ATO Records, where Griffin remains under contract.

Let’s hope that move doesn’t keep these gloriously rendered songs from reaching a larger audience; “Downtown Church” is a stunningly powerful and compassionate work addressing homelessness, kindness, deceit and finding the strength to persevere through troubled tides.

The songs mix traditional standards (“Wade In The Water,” “Move Up”) with country and blues spirituals (Hank Williams’ “House Of Gold,” the blues classic “If I Had My Way”) and originals written by Griffin, Julie Miller and others. Guests include Emmylou Harris and Raul Malo, and the arrangements blend gospel-rooted R&B with acoustic mountain soul music, tied together by a message of living with ethical fortitude and empathy.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘Orchestrion’

Pat Metheny (Nonesuch)

Grade: B

An inveterate tinkerer who constantly imagines new soundscapes, guitarist Pat Metheny has transformed his childhood passion for his grandfather’s player piano into a modern-day version of the orchestrion, a mechanical music machine with an array of orchestral instruments popular nearly a century ago.

On “Orchestrion,” Metheny has taken the notion of a solo album to a new dimension through some technological wizardry. His guitar improvisations are set against a multilayered ensemble backdrop of acoustic and acousto-electric instruments — including pianos, marimba, vibraphone, basses, drums and percussion, guitarbots and blown bottles — that he mechanically controls, mostly by using solenoids, or electromagnetic coils, and pneumatics.

The problem is that Metheny has set an incredibly high bar for himself on his previous albums, particularly those with the Pat Metheny Group, which won Grammys. Metheny’s guitar solos are as impressive as ever on pieces such as “Spirit of the Air” and his deft melodic touch is present in compositions like the bluesy “Soul Search.” But what’s missing in the ensemble sound is the human touch found in the intuitive interplay between Metheny and long-time keyboard player Lyle Mays or other PMG members.

As a concept, “Orchestrion” has limitations as a strictly audio experience compared to the guitarist’s earlier work. But once the visual element is added — when Metheny goes on tour beginning in April and can be seen alone on stage playing his vast array of instruments — it should be a performance not to be missed.

— Charles J. Gans, Associated Press