Moon

It speaks volumes for Snowbird singer Stephanie Dosen that her collaborator here, former Cocteau Twins member Simon Raymonde, was inspired to return to writing and making music for the first time since the Twins’ 1997 breakup while working on her 2007 album A Lily for the Spectre. Yet it took time. Raymonde isn't a musician who rushes things or involves himself without feeling it 100 percent. Here, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway and Midlake’s McKenzie Smith add their touches to Raymonde’s piano-based tunes, and the results are what fans of these musicians would hope for. Dosen isn’t Elizabeth Fraser and doesn’t bother trying to imitate anyone. The Wisconsin native captures her own mix of folk and ethereal sounds in her no-nonsense soprano, and songs such as “I Heard the Owl Call My Name,” “Charming Birds from Trees," and “Porcelain” are enhanced by the simple rule that all musicians only contribute when they’re helping a song grow into its own. The companion album also features the songs remixed by Michigan-based electronic artist Rx Gibbs for some radical and some more sedate interpretations of this grand union.