In Brief

* * * Everything but the Girl, “Amplified Heart,” Atlantic. The British duo’s records over the past decade have ranged from phlegmatic to listless to just plain dull. Here, they filigree their usual spare, laconic folk with enough embellishments--loose, loping rhythm tracks on “Troubled Mind,” Richard Thompson’s stylized electric guitar on “25th December”--to not only sustain interest but also pique it for more. The group plays the Roxy on Sept. 23 and the Troubadour on Sept. 24.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).