Sarabeth Tucek, Get Well Soon

Concept albums about grief and loss have taken many forms, from Pink Floyd to Eels. In this meditation on the death of a parent, Sarabeth Tucek takes a popular whispers-in-dark-rooms route, but the calm is filled in by swooping ethereal sounds which help you recall her contributions to the much more hellish psychedelic swirlings of Brian Jonestown Massacre a decade or so ago. There has been much water under the bridge apparently since then, and this album represents a self-reflective, analytical emergence from a devil-may-care youth that apparently became just plain dark. The little sonic accents and details are much appreciated, and help universalize this personal saga. The album’s cover depicts an empty boat adrift in a lake, but luckily the record itself is firmly grounded in mad melodies (the poppy yet emotionally complex “State I Am”), roiling rock instrumentals (“Exit Ghost”) and clear expressions of despair and (phew!) hopefulness.