Only As the Day Is Long

The pedal steel signifies alt-country. The finger-picked acoustic guitars lean towards folk. The muted, unassuming, sometimes too-buried vocals suggest that murky sadcore space where Cat Power usually hangs her tunes. Once a Denver-based drummer (she played for a spell with Band of Horses) and now Seattle-based singer-songwriter, Sera Cahoone’s second album creates a spell that is thorough and at times overwhelming. The tunes are strong and lasting but often obscured by the mostly rustic instrumentation (banjo, violin, pedal steel). Cahoone lurks behind the tunes as much as commands them, and she specializes in a high lonesome area where things sound as if they might be going bad even when they have the possibility of looking up. The extra energy behind “Happy When I’m Gone” practically sounds like the dawning of a new day when put next to the gorgeous but downcast drear of “Tryin’” or the solemn near prayer-like album closer “Seven Hours Later.” It makes for an effective 3 a.m. album.