GRACE POTTER

Daylight FANTASY

7/10

Newly focused veteran begins new chapter with expert help

Four years after her muddled solo LP Midnight, and the breakup of her longtime band The Nocturnals, Grace Potter returns to her stylistic comfort zone with Daylight. But the all-star cast, which includes keyboardists Benmont Tench and Larry Goldings, duo Lucius and producer/player Eric Valentine, injects these springy rockers (“On My Way”, “Every Heartbeat”) and aching ballads (“Shout It Out”, “Please”) with a dynamism The Nocturnals couldn’t attain. More surprisingly, the reinvigorated 36-year-old portrays a rootsy Adele on the freighted confessionals “Love Is Love” and “Release”, channels Patsy Cline on the barbed country tune “Repossession” and goes full-tilt Janis on “Daylight”, while soul symphony “Back To Me” is right out of Dusty In Memphis.