CAT POWER

Wanderer DOMINO 8/10 Serenity and self-assurance on piano-heavy tenth

It didn’t entirely convince as a groove-powered reinvention, but 2012’s Sun returned Chan Marshall her highest Billboard 200 spot (No 10). In hindsight, it now reads like a crucial pause in a career defined by devastatingly fragile, folkish blues-rock, but although she’s drawn back to her heartland here, Marshall’s now charting a more certain and calmly streamlined course. With guests including Lana Del Rey (backing vocals on the righteous “Woman”), Jim White and Judah Bauer, the set has both strength and a lean, lustrous beauty, tapping Carole King-style classicism and American folk standards, while presenting Rihanna’s “Stay” as a hushed and haunting piano ballad.