WOMEN of the CONGO

On each of her previous three solo albums Madeleine Peyroux kept the focus on her voice: a small, distinctive thing with all the weathered charm of a flea-market antique. Her new album, “Bare Bones,” features her singing no less purposefully than the others, but it presents her as more of a songwriter than before. Each of its 11 tracks has her name in the credits, and together they add up to a declaration of selfhood.

As the title suggests, this is an album about core principles: love and solitude, rumination and survival. On songs like “I Must Be Saved” and “Instead,” Ms. Peyroux urges a strict focus on matters of the heart, imploringly or insouciantly. Elsewhere, on the title track and “River of Tears,” she tunes out the world to better savor her grief. And she takes asceticism to rather uneasy extremes with “Homeless Happiness,” which idealizes a life without shelter or possessions. (“No hurries, no worries for me,” she coos. Really?)

Billboard - "All sound pretty wonderful in the hands of Peyroux's stealthy, silk-draped vocals, delivered with a winning air"

NY Daily News - "Madeleine Peyroux is finding her voice... Given a point of view that clear, and melodies this appealing, don't be surprised if "Bare Bones" inspires some covers of its own.")

Boston Globe - "'Bare Bones' is a beautifully slow-cooked album that encourages us to look on the bright side. "

Newhouse News - "Peyroux remains one of the most distinctive singers on the scene and "Bare Bones" is a delicious addition to her catalog."