Chris Stamey’s pop has always had a streak of ornate studio magic, even back when he was doing semi-rough garage rock in the original incarnation of the dB's 30-plus years ago. And now he's made his most direct orchestral move yet, an album he says is "the closest I've ever gotten to the sound I hear in my head in the middle of the night." That's "Lovesick Blues," which has nothing to do with Hank Williams but everything to do with lovely and emotional pop done up with strings, woodwinds and Stamey's customary melodic grace.

For more, see an interview with Stamey from Friday's paper, which also has details about that evening's album-release shindig. While I'm at it, I'd also direct you to this 2004 profile of Stamey; and this from last year, when the dB's broke a three-decade silence with a new album.