Joe Henry — well respected songwriter, performer, and Grammy award winning producer — has described Reverie, his 12th studio solo album since 1986, as a “raucous and fractured and noisy affair,” and that doesn’t fall far from the mark. Raucous and noisy it may well be, but it is also a beautiful, dark escapade through sparse woods, fields fallow for winter, and backlanes cluttered with detritus of broken dreams. Musically, the album is acoustic, for the most part, and broodingly atmospheric. Lyrically, Henry’s pen seems inspired by Dylan by way of The Band, with a vocal delivery that reminds me of Waits, if Waits’ vocal chords were unravaged by smokes and hard liquor. There’s a lot going on here, and after repeated listens over the past month, I feel I’m still turning up new streets and discovering new haunts with each listen. Best enjoyed alone on gloomy afternoons, or in the background of a bizarre dinner party, with plenty of mulled wine. (Anti-, anti.com) Sheldon Birnie