From Down Under, a Country Songbird

***

KASEY CHAMBERS

“Barricades & Brickwalls”

Warner Bros.

Chambers has one of those classic country voices. Never mind that her country is Australia--she sounds as if she was reared in a Tennessee mountain home. On her second album (in stores Tuesday; she plays the Roxy in West Hollywood on Feb. 19), she makes her voice count, applying that Dolly Parton-meets-Sheryl Crow singing to Dolly Parton-meets-Steve Earle songwriting and musical range.

She and her versatile band move confidently from the rock-edged title song to the bluegrass flights of “On a Bad Day” to the sweet solo sorrow of “Falling Into You” to the rippin’ rockabilly of “Crossfire.” Lucinda Williams, Matthew Ryan and Buddy Miller each jump in as complementary duet partners.

Most striking is the razor-cut sting of the words, with most of the slashing directed at Chambers herself. “Sometime I wish I was a sin / So the ones I love wouldn’t let me in,” from “This Mountain,” is one of those turn-you-around lines that says so much with so little--the foundation strength of great country music.

She hasn’t quite integrated her influences into a truly individual style yet-- a version of Gram Parsons’ “Still Feeling Blue” is an obvious tribute choice. And “Ignorance,” a hidden bonus track, is a bit raw if well intentioned with its current-events rage (“If you’re not [angry] at the world / Then you’re just not paying attention”). But those exposed nerves and unbridled quality are what make Chambers a standout, wherever she’s from. --Steve Hochman

**1/2

CHRIS ISAAK

“Always Got Tonight”

Warner Bros.

What have you got against Chris Isaak? Sure, the slick retro-rocker pales in comparison with the influences he emulates (“Wicked Game” aside). The Stockton-born singer-songwriter’s latest collection (due Tuesday) doesn’t bring him any closer, but, c’mon--not too many living artists can measure up to guys like Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley.

So, is it that he’s just another pretty voice, disproportionately celebrated thanks to his smooth style and successful cable TV comedy series? But his sleepy, quavering voice can be meltingly vulnerable. Here, he seductively infuses such heartbreak tunes as “Let Me Down Easy” and “Life Goes On” with his trademark sense of mournful solitude. But breezier numbers such as “Cool Love” or the propulsive plea “One Day,” just don’t smolder like those aching torch songs. The true-blue anthem “American Boy” feels pat, and too many of his jangling folk-rockers are pleasant but unmemorable.

Isaak’s band, Silvertone, expertly shades in the backgrounds, leaving emotional impressions with the lonesome-echo slide guitar of such numbers as “Worked It Out Wrong.” Less successfully, he spices the mix with different pop styles, from ‘70s-soul flute bits on the driving “Notice the Ring” to inexplicable rap-rock on the bluesy title track. Which, perhaps, seems a bit more like hedging bets than being real. --Natalie Nichols

In Brief

** Lee “Scratch” Perry, “Jamaican E.T.,” Trojan. Jamaican dub, that reggae subgenre in which voices and instruments are vigorously bathed in echo and reverb, has been legendary producer Lee Perry’s metier for 40 years. But he can be maddeningly erratic--transformative on one record, perplexing on the next. This album falls into the latter category. It’s a mad Babel of sound--Perry’s singing and spoken word rants overlap to the point of total obfuscation, blotting out some of the more compelling half-baked grooves buried in the mix. --Marc Weingarten

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.