Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon (Deluxe Version)

The death of her father, a separation from her husband of four years, and a label change (Blue Note!) all sent KT Tunstall into reflection mode for much of her dual-titled fourth album. The duality is meant to reflect these changes, plus the two different sessions that took place in April and November of 2012 with production by alt-country icon Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. True to form, Gelb gave Tunstall all the room she needed to purge herself at his Tucson recording studio. Whatever slick pop impulses she still had were left in the parking lot. In fact, there isn’t another album in Tunstall’s catalog that’s as stripped to the studs with such a focus on her powerful vocal performances. “Old Man Song,” “How You Kill Me," and “Made of Glass” (which, according to Tunstall, was recorded in one take) confront the loss of a parent in the most unflinching terms. “No Better Shoulder” is an acoustic number that was meant to shut down the official album. The deluxe edition adds four songs, including a restrained take on Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer.”