Albums of the Week
Jenny Lewis
“The Voyager”
★★½
The former Rilo Kiley frontwoman’s ’70s yacht-rock homages can feel overstuffed, even when short. Like later Elvis Costello, she’ll throw in extra lines on a verse that would be better off simple, such as on the immediately agreeable “She’s Not Me.” And on “Just One of the Guys,” a chiming three-note motif is so cutesy it might as well be a kazoo.
But this is her most lavishly produced solo album, and its expansive arrangements buoy her lyrics, which are usually sharp and sometimes witty, like “Late Bloomer”: “Nancy came from Boston/She got in trouble very often.”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
“Hypnotic Eye”
★★
Tom Petty may be the most charmless classic-rocker of all — amazing, considering the competition. At 63, he’s still whining, “I’m a full grown boy” (over soft cocktail drums and jazzy guitar on “Full Grown Boy”); when he sings the blues on “Burnt Out Town,” you want to beg him not to.
The guitars and drums chug along the way they have since the ’70s. But the production is lusher and more psychedelic than usual (hence the title), giving the usual tedious rocking some extra (badly needed) flavor. Bonus: Nothing as horrifying as “Don’t Pull Me Over,” his 2010 reggae song.
Beck (feat. Various Artists)
“Song Reader”
★★½
Two years ago, Beck released an “album” — of sheet music only. After a couple of guest-laden shows of interpretations of the material, “Song Reader” is an actual album — a compilation with Beck and 19 other performers each taking a song.
It’s uneven (compilations usually are), but the rich material is recognizably Beck, even when Juanes is singing “Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard” in Spanish. Highlights include Moses Sumney’s vintage Beach Boys-like take on “Title of This Song,” Norah Jones’ country-fried “Just Noise” and Eleanor Friedberger’s organ-led torch song “Old Shanghai.”
Downloads of the Week
Shabazz Palaces
“Forerunner Foray”
★★★½
The former leader of Digable Planets, Ishmael Butler is making far stranger, more adventurous hip-hop these days in Seattle (his hometown) with Shabazz Palaces partner Tendai Maraire.
This taste of their superb “Lese Majesty” is a good example: spare, synth-led, full of echo, the singing and rapping layered but spacious.
Jason Aldean
“Burnin’ It Down”
★★★
The country star teases his yet-to-be-titled sixth album with this modest, sharp slow jam (“I wanna rock it all night/Baby girl, will you rock it out with me?”) with a snaking R&B/hip-hop drum-machine rhythm carrying the track — subtly, just another part of this country song.
That casualness makes it work.
Weezer
“Back to the Shack”
★
Weezer’s first new song in four years — ahead of the chillingly titled “Everything Will Be Alright in the End” — is of as little musical interest as ever.
“Rockin’ out like it’s ’94,” Rivers Cuomo promises, but, unfortunately, this tune can’t even match their early stuff. Not that high a bar.
Eric Clapton & Friends
“Call Me the Breeze”
★★
Clapton’s been playing the late singer-songwriter JJ Cale’s music for decades: “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” both came from Cale’s pen.
On “The Breeze,” Clapton and a group of all-stars pay tribute, and this song, a hit for Lynyrd Skynyrd, is an easygoing shuffle with bland instrumental coloring and no surprises.