MUSIC REVIEWS

Miranda Lambert “Wildcard” (RCA Nashville)

Miranda Lambert got heavy on “The Weight Of These Wings,” the 2016 double album all about heartache and rebuilding her life, written after the breakup of her marriage to “The Voice” star Blake Shelton. On “Wildcard” — which follows the satisfying diversion of last year’s superb “Interstate Gospel” by Pistol Annies, Lambert’s supergroup with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley — she lightens up.

Or at least, the Texasraised country singer doesn’t dwell on unhappy endings. (That might have something to do with her marriage to New York City policeman Brendan McLoughlin, which she announced on Twitter in February, scooping the tabloids.)

“Wildcard” is a uniformly strong, 14-song collection, with Lambert co-writing every track. She takes care to have her fun. “White Trash” makes light of her inability to get above her raising. “Pretty Bitchin’” takes a good long look in the mirror and can’t see any reason to complain. And on “Way Too Pretty For Prison,” a duet with Maren Morris, the vocal partners decide it would be unseemly to risk murdering a cheating man — better to hire a contract killer.

But while “Wildcard” doesn’t flaunt its seriousness, Lambert isn’t coasting as a songwriter. She imbues drinking songs such as “Tequila Does,” “Dark Bars,” and the blues-gospel “Holy Water” with substance. And even when singing about “Settling Down,” she refuses to settle, avoiding comforting country clichés about the sanctity of home and instead exploring the tension between the instinct to put down roots and the urge to get away. — Dan DeLuca, The Philadelphia Inquirer

that dog. “Old LP” (UME)

That dog. is near the top of any reasonable person’s list of bands that should’ve been huge, especially by the standards of the ’90s noisepop continuum. They weren’t just biz babies who could Really Sing and Play. They had their own sound: chamber-pop grunge that piled on the three-part harmonies and Petra Haden’s not-always-sweet violin, while still managing to be louder than Weezer (who once gave frontwoman Anna Waronker a lead vocal, as if to illustrate what could’ve been).

This crowdfunded fourth album arrives 22 years after the third and pulls off another balancing act. It doesn’t sound like it could have been made by anyone else, yet it doesn’t sound like any of its predecessors, and it’s as great as anything they’ve ever done. They challenge themselves like no reunion band; you won’t hear a more frenetic rocker in 2019 than “Just the Way,” or a sweeter orchestration than the title tune, a tribute to Rachel Haden’s late jazz-legend dad Charlie. Everything else nestles arrestingly in between, maturing melodically while exploding harder than anyone working their increasingly rarefied circuit. We’ll take a fifth. — Dan Weiss, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Joanna Connor “Rise” (M.C. Records)

Joanna Connor takes her powerful guitar down new paths on “Rise,” an album featuring some jazzier hues, her considerable acoustic skills and even a guest rapper while also doubling down on her reputation as a blues stalwart.

Connor, based in Chicago, released 2016’s “Six String Stories” after a long break from studio recording even as she enhanced her status thanks to live performances. “Rise” is also characterized by a new backing band, “a bunch of younger men” credited by Connor for an extra dose of power, and several instrumentals, from the smooth tones of the title track to a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “If You Want Me to Stay” featuring cracking solos from everyone involved.

Funky album opener “Flip” is a steamy take on what sounds like a May-September romance — “A woman can’t live on guitar alone” — while “Mutha” features rapper Alphonso BuggZ Dinero toasting Connor with a dose of humor as she mercilessly shreds the strings.

“My Irish Father” is a galloping, Rory Gallagher-like acoustic showcase with poignancy added by Connor’s discovery not long ago of her birth father’s identity. “Cherish and Worship You” is probably the most rocking track on the album and “Earthshaker” is a glowing tribute to a Windy City bass player with some very special skills.

Intense closer “Dear America” combines an homage to Led Zeppelin’s take on “When the Levee Breaks” with a topical dissertation by Dinero as Connor’s dramatic vocals and fiery fret work, along with powerful work from drummer Tyrone Mitchell, provide an alarming soundtrack to a catalog of political ills and social challenges.

Connor describes herself as “that middle-aged lady with the scorching guitar” and “Rise” is a monumental testament to her skills.—Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

The Mavericks “Play the Hits” (Mondo Mundo/Thirty Tigers)

When a singer has a voice with the richness, range, and grandeur of Raul Malo’s, and he is backed by a band that possesses similar qualities, it figures to be a treat to hear how they put their stamp on familiar material by others. The Mavericks don’t disappoint. On “Play the Hits,” they Mav-erize 11 numbers, but not with a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, the performances reflect the breadth and thrill of their own music over the last three decades.

Fittingly, the Mavericks come out “Swingin’,” giving the John Anderson country hit a tougher, more insinuating groove that heightens its sexiness. From there, they immediately transform the Waylon Jennings country-rocker “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” into a horn-powered blast of swaggering R&B. Among the other up-tempo highlights, Don and Dewey’s buoyant “I’m Leaving It Up to You” gets the kind of Latin flavor that has always been an integral part of the Mavericks’ sound, thanks to Malo’s Cuban heritage, and that also permeates this set.

It’s no surprise that Malo kills on the ballads here, from the supper-club torch of the gender-switched Patsy Cline classic “Why Can’t She Be You” to the acoustic starkness of “Blues Eyes Crying in the Rain,” made famous by Willie Nelson. And it’s hard to think of a singer and song more perfectly matched than Malo and fellow Latino Freddy Fender’s immortal “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.” — Nick Cristiano, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Blanco Brown “Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs” (TrailerTrapMusic/

BMG)

At 31, songwriter/producer Blanco Brown capitalized on Lil Nas X’s record-breaking, country-rap fusion “Old Town Road” with the irresistible “The Git Up,” a line-dancing anthem fitted with stuttering 808s. It reached the top 20 of the Hot 100 and portended this debut album, which adds nine other more-country-thanrap tunes.

Unlike Lil Nas X, Brown leans into his novelty smash with layers of his nasal register harmonized into AutoTune caramel and plenty of lonesome guitar. The opening “Temporary Insanity” puts Brown’s best foot forward with a twangy, campfire soul burner, and the gospel-inflected “Don’t Love Her” smoothly creates the illusion that all these disparate genres were bedfellows in the first place. But Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs leans into its uncoolness a little too comfortably; the best pop takes some risks. So when “The Git Up” finally shows up as an encore, it’s a reminder that country-rap is just getting started and Brown is still figuring it out like everyone else. — Dan Weiss, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Celine Dion “Courage” (Columbia

Records)

The search is officially over: If you’ve been wondering what the saddest song of 2019 is, we’ve found it. It’s on Celine Dion’s new album, “Courage.”

Track No. 11, “For the Lover That I Lost,” will have you weeping for two good reasons — one of the songwriters is Sam Smith, that master of grief, while the singer herself is still mourning twin deaths.

“I laid a dozen roses for the lover that I lost/I stand by all my choices even though I paid the cost,” Dion sings.

“Courage” is her first English-language album since the passing of her husband, Rene Angélil, and brother, Daniel, only two days apart in 2016. Dion has dealt with the losses before on her French album “Encore un soir,” released seven months after the deaths, and this time she’s moving gingerly forward.

There are soaring ballads of lost love but mostly indicators of hope and perseverance, like when she sings “I’m flying on my own (on the wings of your love)” on “Flying on My Own” and on the title track, where she vows to keep going: “Courage don’t you dare fail me now.”

“I have missed you, so heavily/But the weight’s kind of lifting,” she sings on the gospel-tinged “I Will Be Stronger,” adding: “I don’t feel like giving up just because you climbed off.”

There are even stems shooting up new love — the ’60s throwback “How Did You Get Here” and the gentle piano ballad written by Skylar Grey called “Falling in Love Again.” The cover of the album shows Dion walking away from flames, her dress sullied, a woman bowed but not broken.

Since Dion isn’t a songwriter, it’s not always easy to know what she’s going through. But what she chooses to add her titanic voice can tell volumes. And the 16-track “Courage” is a very strong mature pop album with modern and EDM touches showcasing one of the world’s most jaw-dropping vocalists, this time often rawer than we are used to.

Dion is like a sonic chameleon that changes colors depending on who is nearby and this time Sia is around for two very Sia songs (“Baby” and “Lying Down” with David Guetta), but there are also offerings from such longtime collaborators as Liz Rodrigues and Jorgen Elofsson.

The standard edition album ends with the spacy, dark and melancholy “Perfect Goodbye” — and Dion even slips in the rare curse word. She’s angry. “Don’t need to understand if God’s got a plan/It’s out of our hands anyway,” she sings. We’re just glad her heart will go on.—Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press