Moodswing

After a several-year gap occasioned by health problems and disentanglement from her former label, Kacy Crowley reappeared on the Austin music scene with her third album, 2004's Moodswing. An impressive leap forward from her two characterless Atlantic albums from the '90s, Moodswing holds the same place in Crowley's career that "Passionate Kisses" did for Lucinda Williams, whose blend of singer/songwriter confessionalism and blues and folk roots is an excellent point of comparison. A self-assured album released after a period of personal and professional turmoil, Moodswing was simply, cleanly produced by ex-True Believers guitarist Jon Dee Graham, who also leads the small, sympathetic band backing Crowley's careworn voice and simple acoustic guitar. The emphasis throughout is on Crowley's songs, which are uniformly excellent; the dreamy "Kind of Perfect" is the album's highest point, but there's no real filler here. Perhaps a bit too determinedly small in scale to fit on the radio next to, say, Sheryl Crow, Moodswing is nonetheless an accomplished return to action.