Album: Meg Bairds, Seasons On Earth (Wichita)

Meg Baird, formerly the frontperson of Philadelphia-based psychedelic folk-rockers Espers, is left a little exposed on her own solo album.

Tracks like "Babyon" and "Song for Next Summer" are charming enough in a feathery, folkie-damsel kind of way, with their diffident blends of acoustic guitar and pedal steel or harp, respectively; but with her breathy voice slipping frequently into a falsetto hiccup, it's sometimes painfully difficult to discern the lyrics, as her delivery becomes a series of soft, powdery intonations. Still, fans of Vashti Bunyan and Bridget St John might approve. Such lines as get through hint at a sort of melancholy turmoil. The best track is "Stars Climb Up the Vine", where the wispy orientalist guitar parts recall such as John Fahey and Robbie Basho.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Stars Climb Up the Vine; Song for Next Summer; Babyon