Robyn Sings

Its full title should be Robyn Sings Dylan, since this collection features the British singer-songwriter exclusively covering Bob Dylan, going so far as to perform the electric half of Dylan’s 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert for its 30th anniversary nearly as it appeared on bootleg for decades before receiving its own official release. The recording quality for that show is rough, allegedly taken from an audience DAT of the concert. While Hitchcock and band can’t approximate Dylan and the Band’s original firepower, he does an admirable job mining the quirks and emotional gravity behind Dylan’s most surrealistic period — the one that clearly influenced Hitchcock’s entire songwriting approach. (Hitchcock opens the album with an acoustic “Visions of Johanna,” telling his audience it’s his favorite song.) Among the other better-recorded moments, “4th Time Around” tongue-ties Hitchcock with a few flubbed lines. “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” emulates a Daniel Lanois production. The addition of “Tangled Up In Blue” and latter-day Dylan classics such as “Not Dark Yet” and “Dignity” fill out this fitting tribute.