With her last album Dancin’ in the Kitchen, Lynn Drury showed how to write an uplifting album about life during shutdown. Appropriately, her new one is largely about getting back into the world and features an outgoing sound to match.

“Live My Life” in particular captures the feelings many of us had when the doors swung open again: The lyrics swing from “I don’t want to live my life in front of a screen” to “I just want to feel the sun shining down on my skin—it feels so good!” Producer Papa Mali supplies an exuberant guitar solo, Drury responds with a multitracked chorus of “woo hoos’s,” and it’s the sound of pure joy.

As usual, Drury’s deep and soulful voice is the main attraction. But she’s aided this time by Mali’s savvy production, which is focused on the voice and songwriting: he barely solos elsewhere, but plays a lot of tasty, twangy licks that perfectly complement the vocals. Drummer Doug Belotte and Iguanas bassist Rene Coman complete a strong basic combo, and strings and horns are put to sparing but effective use.

Relationships are Drury’s most frequent territory as a songwriter and a few songs here are about getting out of one, usually with the confidence that the singer’s made the right move. “Waiting Game” says good riddance to a guy who’s not only let her down emotionally, but apparently broke a promise to play on her album as well. On the other hand, “Don’t Wait” is a romantic invitation, making its point with one of the catchiest chorus hooks she’s written. It’s not all confessional songwriting though: the title song is a well-sketched and is a Band-like story of a sailor’s long-suffering partner.

The best song here is the most personal one: “I Waited Too Long” is arranged like an early-’60s torch ballad and allows her voice to open up and emote. But the lyrics are about Drury’s overcoming self-doubt to find her voice as an artist. Waiting is apparently very much on Drury’s mind, since that word is in three song titles, but she’s also doing some of her best work right now.

Lynn Drury