Jayci Lee

With her expressive soprano voice employing sudden alterations of volume and force, and her lyrical focus on Los Angeles street life, Rickie Lee Jones comes on like the love child of Laura Nyro and Tom Waits on her self-titled debut album…

On reflection, it's no wonder that so many artists were available for Total Lee: The Songs of Lee Hazlewood. Hazlewood occupies a position in posterity similar to that of the Velvet Underground–ignored by the world at large, but disproportionately adored by fellow musicians. Hazlewood's only glimpse of popular appeal occurred when Nancy Sinatra had a worldwide hit with his "These Boots Are Made For Walking"–a karaoke standard ignored by the 16 artists who appear on this tribute album. What is startling about this fine collection is that a lot of the artists here seem endearingly unable to separate their admiration for Hazlewood's songs from Hazlewood's myth: for most young men who've ever picked up a guitar, Hazlewood's life of meandering from town to town, girl to girl, bottle to bottle, has a certain aspirational quality, and may be the reason why every male artist on this album finds himself, consciously or not, adopting Hazlewood's signature consumptive drawl: The Webb Brothers, Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley, Calexico and Erlend Oye are more impersonation than interpretation, but nonetheless engaging.

Lee Ann Womack began recording a sequel for MCA Nashville after 2008's Call Me Crazy, but none of its advance singles stuck, leading the singer to shift direction for her seventh studio album. This album didn't appear until 2014, not on Universal but on Sugar Hill/Welk, who picked up The Way I'm Livin', an album that effectively reboots her career. Produced by Frank Liddell – Womack's husband but more notably the producer behind recent hit records by Miranda Lambert, Pistol Annies, David Nail, and the Eli Young Band – The Way I'm Livin' finds the veteran singer intentionally abandoning the chart race for deeply felt intimacy. Womack didn't write any of the songs on The Way I'm Livin' – a collection of writers ranging from Bruce Robison, Kenny Price, Julie Miller, and Mindy Smith to Hayes Carll and Neil Young bear credits – but the material is so carefully selected, the album plays personally.

The so-called Canadian metal queen makes a left turn on this self-titled release, a reinvention to show off her vocal talents without the normal hard rock thudding. And it's refreshing, showcasing the best songwriting and strongest music of her career…