Joybook

With all of her solo/full-band/guest-star projects, it’s usually Chico singer/songwriter Erin Lizardo’s voice that makes the strongest impression. Consistently subdued and airy (and at times downright spooky)—in the vein of Julie Doiron or Iron & Wine—Lizardo’s voice also has a muted range that stretches melodies further than is normal for a folk or pop tune. For her new project, the four-piece Joybook, the voice is still doing all that same good work, but the six tunes featured on the band’s self-titled EP leave a much more balanced impression. With Lizardo on organ/keyboards, Robert Smith on drums, her husband, Lucas Sarcona, on guitar and Candy Apple’s Scott Barwick (who recorded the disc at his Origami Lounge studio) on synth, the result is a warmly recorded, nearly perfect collection of moody, mid-tempo pop: tasteful arrangements (usually built around a crisp keyboard or guitar melody), loose but on-point playing and Lizardo’s lovely voice singing mysterious lyrics: “That dog ran beside my car/ We raced down the road/ I was winning with my horses/ and there was far to go” (from “Dog Song”). It’s bouncy and it’s cozy and it’s easily my favorite release of 2009 so far.