POP ALBUMS

*** 1/2 Allison Moorer, “Alabama Song,” MCA Nashville. Somewhere between the melancholy dreaminess of k.d. lang and the wee-hours desperation of the Cowboy Junkies lands this striking newcomer from Frankville, Ala.

Moorer’s seductively bluesy voice landed her, even before this debut album’s release, on some high-powered all-star projects, including the movie soundtrack for Robert Redford’s “The Horse Whisperer.”

She puts that dusky drawl to good use in songs of romantic loss and disenchantment in a way that evokes, without echoing, such vibrant country heartbreakers as Patsy Cline and Emmylou Harris. More impressive, she co-wrote all but one of the 11 songs here.

While she’s clearly working in country-traditionalist territory, this 26-year-old’s songs exhibit an artistic maturity that neither shies from exploring psychological states nor panders to country radio’s demand for simplistic, feel-good material. Let’s hope she isn’t penalized for it.

There are few light moments--the yearning-to-travel title song is as close as she gets--but she demonstrates how unnecessary the typical happy-sad-happy-sad formula truly is.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).