The Real World

Freya Josephine Hollick’s third album represents her most seamless merging of classic country trappings and heady cosmic flourishes. The Victoria-based singer-songwriter decamped to Joshua Tree, California, to record with Lucinda Williams’ world-class backing band Buick 6 as well as lead guitarist Greg Leisz (Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow) before finishing these songs with her well-oiled Australian players. The results are by turns thoughtful and irreverent, all imbued with the dreamy, lingering lilt of her voice. Hollick tips her hat to the long tradition of lyrical jealousy on “Vivienne, June, Dolly & Jolene,” while “Holdin’ on the Ones You Love” adds honky-tonk piano and backing baritone from English crooner Alan Power. Beyond those old-school touches, “Me & Mine” contrasts James Gilligan’s glossy string arrangements with empowering lyrics about standing up to bullies at home and abroad. The title track is a mournful lament for environmental devastation, with a thematic sequel in the spacey love letter “Wilderness Tune.” This is time-honored country songwriting with a self-aware edge, rewarding us with sneaky surprises and punchlines alike.