In Brief

It’s testimony to the Beatles that all these years and all those acolytes later, their innovations still sound fresh. But it’s testimony to Penn that he can still find distinctive colors in those formulas. Producer Brendan O’Brien adds barbed sonic edges and McCartney-esque bass to Penn’s third album and first in five years, while the singer’s longtime collaborator Patrick Warren underscores Penn’s understated yearning with somber keyboard effects.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

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* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://ziira.shop/soundclips