KT Tunstall: Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon

The Scottish singer-songwriter may be viewed in some quarters as the acceptable face of radio-friendly pop/rock, but KT Tunstall is actually more than just that: a search through previous solo albums highlights a songwriter whose concerns overshadow and undermine the usual radio fodder format. Tunstall continues this on her new studio album, which is a two-parter. The first "half" references issues of mortality (her father died last year); the second evokes a similar sombreness (she recently separated from her musician husband of four years). In lesser hands, the results might have been a mixture of tear-soaked sentiment and barely cloaked regret, but Tunstall covers such terrain (assisted by producer Howe Gelb) with swathes of delicacy, discretion and no small level of Americana-infused earthiness. kttunstall.com
Download: Made of Glass, Old Man Song, No Better Shoulder