Plumb

On the first two albums by the Story, Jonatha Brooke wrote all the songs, sang lead vocals, and played acoustic guitar. The other half of the Story, Jennifer Kimball, merely sang background vocals. So one might expect that the first Story album without Kimball (and the first with Brooke's name in front of the band's) would not sound that different. But it does, and Kimball's delicately dissonant harmonies are missed. Fortunately, that's not the only thing that's changed. Brooke's melodies are more catchy than ever, and her passionate lyrics plumb the thematic depths of innocence and trust with newfound maturity. The mellow Latin-influenced folk-pop of the Story's past is replaced here with an energetic, glossy full-band pop sound. Brooke's expert backing musicians jump unjarringly from edgy guitar rock to southern Bonnie Raitt-isms to postmodern classical string arrangements.