Lorraine Feather: Attachments

For pretty much as long as Lorraine Feather has been writing and recording her own tunes, it has become de rigueur to expect wildly careening wordplay that often favors whimsical, fanciful or macabre allusions. Now, as she focuses her attention on relationships of various kinds and intensities, Feather grows more somber and, in the process, delivers her most impressive album to date. Befitting its theme, she draws on a spectrum of writing collaborators, extending from Russell Ferrante and Dave Grusin to Eddie Arkin, Joey Calderazzo and even Bach.

Though romantic relationships-solid, shaky or one-sided-form the album’s backbone, Feather ventures much further. The bond between musicians defines “I Love You Guys,” the wistful “Anna Lee” traces the faded, dust-covered friendship of once inseparable roommates and “I Hope I Never Leave This Place” speaks to intense affection for familiar spaces.

Nor is Attachments entirely lacking in lightheartedness. The peppy, familial “159,” which takes its title from the metronome setting that drives the piece, is partially based on the1965 Shirley Ellis pop-soul hit “The Clapping Song,” while the tail-wagging “Smitten With You” examines man’s ardor for four-legged companions. Grandest and most moving is the closing “True,” built upon one of the most recognizable pieces in the classical canon (Bach’s “Air on the G String”) and transformed into an augustly lilting homage to the simple truths of true love.