K.D. LANG AND THE SISS BOOM BANG

Sing It Loud

[Nonesuch]

This is the first release that comes with an “and” after k.d. lang’s name since the Reclines shared billing on her first three records. The last of those, Absolute Torch and Twang, was also the last country album she made. So does the return of a band also signal a return to those roots? Not exactly, but Sing It Loud may be as close as she’s been since then. Siss Boom Bang contributes recurrent touches of Dobro, banjo and pedal steel throughout the album, and a couple of the songs drift fully into country territory (the dreamy Mavericks-like vibe of “A Sleep With No Dreaming,” the folk-country feel of “Inglewood”). Whatever the genre, on songs ranging from the classic Roy Orbison groove of “I Confess” to the soaring flawlessness of “Perfect Word” and the more muscular “Sugar Buzz,” her voice remains a source of wonder that hasn’t lost one iota of its pitch-perfect force. –Stuart Munro