Tift Merritt: See You On The Moon

Southern singer-songwriter Tift Merritt has garnered comparisons to Maria McKee, Caitlin Cary, and Lucinda Williams over the course of her decade-plus in the business, and like them, Merritt has had to grapple with how to make a pretty voice and a set of solid country-rock influences into something listeners haven’t heard a thousand times before. On her last album, 2008’s Another Country, Merritt dodged the issue and embraced traditionalism, recording a set of tastefully arranged, vividly soulful ballads and mid-tempo rockers. With the follow-up, See You On The Moon, though, Merritt engages alt-rock super-producer Tucker Martine to bring a little edge, and the collaboration bears fruit from the album’s first song, “Mixtape,” a jumpy little number with a handclap beat, swooping strings, and a muted jump-rope-chant chorus.