It feels like Annie Dressner has been working toward her latest album for her entire career. As great as her previous albums have been, there’s something about the lush presentation, under the direction of the singer/songwriter’s husband and producer Paul Goodwin, and its pitch perfect use of jangly guitars and gently played drums that is the perfect backdrop for the charmingly reedy quality of her voice and her humbly metaphoric lyrics. It’s a sound informed by early 20th century American music, roots rock and garage pop, but twisted into shapes that are familiar yet strikingly fresh. With an appearance by Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws, who co-wrote and lends his vocals to the autumnal “Midnight Bus,” and a glistening version of the Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love,” this album is low key one of the best pop releases of 2020.
