Tracy Chapman

In its eleven tracks, Tracy Chapman's aptly titled Telling Stories proves to be another solid combination of Chapman's trademark moody blues and smoky singing voice. But unlike Chapman's previous work that featured beats that stuck to the listener's brain, the strength of Telling Stories lies in its lyrics.

The plots seem familiar enough: broken hearts, broken homes, broken verses dusted with minor chords and street style. The words are liquid and languid and pure. On the title track, Chapman describes a relationship in terms of its lies. As she croons, "There is fiction between you and me," acoustic chords deftly cover the silent space for a mellow, uncrowded feel.

Those chords start to get predictable around track four, though, which is a little bit of a bummer if you're searching for something fresh. At the same time, the album's prosaic tunes give listeners an opportunity to focus on the poetry behind the music.

If you're searching for new tonal scales, R&B revolution, or anything to dance to, Telling Stories isn't a great pick. It's cafe music, dark and low, seeping into the aural space until the listener is saturated in heavy purple hues and the music's slow, sultry pulse.

Telling Stories moves at a staid, pensive-and sometimes boring-pace. There's nothing new here. What's more, there's no intoxicating hit like "Fast Car" that you can put on repeat twelve times. Still, there are some engaging numbers here, like "Paper and Ink," which features a quirky, Indian-influenced beat and a nice shift from Chapman's low alto into a breathy soprano belt that pops up a few times in every verse. "Only One" is the album's musical bet, with it's soul-buttered melody and smooth background vocals swaying to the beat of the tunes.

Unfortunately, Telling Stories has more than its share of samey-sounding, trite compositions as well. "Speak the Word," feels like a low-key remake of a Rubber Soul-era song. "Unsung Psalm" has a cool libretto, but the music is too dull to make it appealing music.

Telling Stories works best as a road trip album, the perfect soundtrack to mindless cruising, pit stop apple pie and tiny revelations. It's not anything you haven't heard before, but the album is beautiful and even deep at times. For fans of lullaby soul and smooth, pulsing rhythms, it could be a decent match.

-By Faran Krentcil