Dar Williams

It’s a close call. Dar Williams’ first disc in three years opens with a keyboard part that’s like the Hooters conducting Abba’s “Dancing Queen” by way of the theme from the Rockford Files. But then Williams’ voice takes over, leading a waltz to the chorus, where more layers of her voice swirl and swoon, and all is forgiven. The first bridge asks, When did sex get so mean? When did crime get so clean? Williams, always a thoughtful, unindulgent writer, has sharpened her observations this time, making opener “Welcome to the Firmament” a grabber (even if it sounds for a second as though she’s singing “toilet” instead of “twilight” as the song resolves Dip your brush into this twilight.)

Sometimes, as on “I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono,” Williams buries a good idea with the explanation of her intentions in her notes. What the Wesleyan-educated Williams might call her thesis, that trading art for love is a foolish barter, comes across fine without the annotation suggesting that Ono was the brains of the Lennon/Ono unit. Still, Williams’ narrator’s self-assessment, I could sell your songs to Nike/… For all I know I could save your soul, is terse and witty, the kind of guarded promise one artist should make another. On Green World, an album often too gently performed for its smart lyrics, Williams continues to fulfill her promise with personal songs that illuminate more than just their author.