Crows

After the release of her 2008 covers album, Mockingbird, Allison returns with a new collection of soft yet lushly piano-driven songs. Allison’s voice has subtly shed the country inflections so apparent on her debut single, “A Soft Place to Fall,” or 2003’s “Send Me Down an Angel,” but her dusty, ethereal voice is at its heartbreaking best on songs like the crushing “Sorrow,” “Just Another Fool” or “Still This Side of Gone” (When did you decide I wasn’t good enough / I wish I had known instead of gettin’ my hopes up). The dramatic conclusion, “Crows,” oddly fits this fine collection of heartbreak music.