MUSIC REVIEWS

Lucero, “Among the Ghosts” (Liberty & Lament/Thirty

Tigers)

Lucero has put out great records before, but for whatever reason—geography, confusion over genre, a lack of recognition from the folks who decide what gets heard—the Memphis-based quintet has never attained the level of stardom it probably deserves.

With “Among the Ghosts,” its ninth studio album, a fine under-the-radar rock ‘n’ roll band keeps getting better. Its songs are better-crafted, its lyrics and playing are more mature, and the rough-hewn sound that was always charming but rarely transcendent is as good as it has ever been.

Gone are the piano and guitar licks that occasionally sounded too much like Bruce Springsteen, though he remains an obvious influence. Gone, too, are the petulant lyrics that sometimes stood between singer-songwriter Ben Nichols and greatness (a certain love song to his guitar comes to mind).

In their place are gritty meditations on homesickness, poignant storytelling built around a Civil War soldier’s letter home, and honest, heartfelt love songs.

Nichols’ maturity is obvious, though he’s as vulnerable as ever. In the title cut, he pines from the road for his wife and baby girl, singing wistfully that “the first word she learned to say was goodbye.”

The band’s playing rises to the challenge such intimate lyrics pose. Rick Steff’s piano is less derivative, a more subtle complement to the gritty guitar playing that still drives the band’s sound.

The effect is more sophisticated without losing the rawness that always gave Lucero its edge—which might just make this the band’s finest album yet.—Scott Stroud, The Associated Press

Amanda Shires, “To the Sunset” (Silver Knife/Thirty

Tigers)

The start of Amanda Shires’ new album sounds like a spin of the dial on an old radio struggling to find a station amid the static. Will it be country music? Pop? Rock? Or maybe something from outer space, which inspired the lyrics to the first song.

Shires is way out there, an unclassifiable original, which is what makes “To the Sunset” a pleasure. Nashville superstar producer Dave Cobb was clearly on board with the idea of creating something different, and he helped Shires come up with a 10-song set that’s her best work yet.

It starts with her quirky, quavery alto, which is processed and multi-tracked to excellent effect. A fine supporting cast includes her husband, Jason Isbell, who plays guitar riffs not heard on his own records and sounds as though he’s having a blast.

Ditto Shires, who plays the uke, whistles and lets out a gleeful “Wooo!” at the start of the rocker “Eve’s Daughter.” She should be happy after writing a batch of terrific, slightly twisted tunes filled with happy hooks and memorable melodies.

Armed with a newly earned MFA in creative writing, Shires serves up quotable couplets about champagne, clothes envy and music versus sports. These songs would sound good on any radio, old or new.—Steven Wine, The Associated Press

The War and Treaty, “Healing Tide” (Strong World/Thirty

Tigers)

Along with his considerable talents as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader and radio host, Buddy Miller is an excellent talent scout. In the case of the War and Treaty, Miller gave his stamp of approval—and a helping hand—to an act beyond his usual Nashville orbit.

Good call, Buddy, as always. Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter, the pride of Albion, Mich., are husband and wife and a powerhouse R&B duo who sound as though they were born to sing together.

Their full-length album debut, “Healing Tide,” is Americana in that it’s rooted in the nation’s pews, fields and street corners, all sweat and spirit and soul. Miller produced and captured the magic of the live performances that have caused such a buzz about the couple. The material draws from Sly Stone’s family but also the Carter Family, thanks to varied arrangements that include Dobro, banjo and autoharp.

Trotter, a wounded warrior who served in Iraq and once composed songs to honor fallen comrades, wrote all 11 tunes with a focus on the glory of love. He and Tanya have huge voices, and while some of the most moving moments come when they dial back the volume, mostly they swing and soar, whoop and wail, testify and sanctify, often in tandem.

Showboating? A little. Showstopping? Yes.—Steven Wine, The Associated Press

YG, “Stay Dangerous” (Def

Jam)

Pop stardom hasn’t softened YG.

That’s the message this hard-nosed Compton rapper presents on his third studio album, “Stay Dangerous.” Released last Friday, it’s the follow-up to 2016’s acclaimed “Still Brazy,” which raised YG’s profile to the point that soon he was recording relatively cuddly duets with the likes of Mariah Carey and Cardi B.

One reason “Still Brazy” connected with a wide audience was that YG, who often flaunts his association with L.A.’s Bloods gang, looked beyond the urban violence with which his earlier work was strictly preoccupied. The single “FDT,” for example—and surely you can figure out what those initials stand for—became a popular activists’ anthem as Donald Trump made his way to the White House.

On “Stay Dangerous,” though, YG returns to the fundamentals of street life, with tersely (if wittily) phrased songs about brutality, sex, money and power.

YG turned to DJ Mustard, the L.A.-based producer who helped create his first hits but with whom the rapper “fell out,” as he puts it in one track here, around the time of “Still Brazy.” (For that album, YG collaborated in the studio with different producers, including several associated with Kendrick Lamar.) Whatever happened, the two men appear to have worked it out: DJ Mustard oversaw 10 of the 15 tracks on “Stay Dangerous” and served as one of the album’s executive producers.

And they still sound great together in cuts like “Too Brazy” and “Slay,” with YG flexing his SoCal drawl over DJ Mustard’s crisp yet bouncy grooves; the music feels urgent but somehow unhurried, as though YG is sure the beat won’t go anywhere without him.

The presence of his old friend brings out YG’s sly charm too, as in “Too Cocky,” in which his sing-song cadence conjures a whiff of “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred, and “Big Bank,” in which he likens his wealth to “whitefolks money.” (Other producers on the project include Lil Rich and Mike Will Made It.)

As the latter lyric demonstrates, YG’s tighter focus on “Stay Dangerous” doesn’t mean he’s not thinking about the outside world; he knows why people end up in gangs and what they’re looking for that they can’t find elsewhere.

Still, it’s easy to wish he’d followed through on the outrage of “FDT” and offered his thoughts on all that’s happened—especially to those where the media doesn’t always look—since 2016.

This week YG, who’s scheduled to perform Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater, suggested to Rolling Stone that he’s no longer looking to provoke Trump.

“I got an open case right now,” he said, referring with a laugh to charges that he stole a diamond chain from a man in Las Vegas in May.

Soft or not, he seemed to be saying, celebrities make for easy targets.—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times