Cherry

After the folding of her beloved psych-folk group , emerges as a confident solo artist with , a debut album whose breezy sophistication belies the intense growing pains behind it. The end of a long-term relationship and a move to New York City were part of the singer/songwriter's creative rebirth, and these changes are reflected in the far poppier direction she takes on . Though songs like "Party Lines," which pairs spiky guitars with winding keyboard melodies, probably won't be mistaken for anything on the charts, the immediacy and adventurousness of 's debut album is pop in the broadest, and most exciting, sense of the genre. She gives the detailed songwriting of her days a shinier setting on "The Return," a song that could have appeared on one of the band's albums minus a few loops and synths. However, it never feels like she's smoothing out her music to make it more approachable. If anything, she's made it stranger. 's interpretation of pop puts in the spotlight, allowing her to take chances in a way that she couldn't as a member of a band. The way she melds disparate-seeming sounds recalls 's omnivorous approach, as well as other artists who love unexpected musical elements as much as they do a good hook. The motorik beat and percolating chromatic percussion on "Hard Won" suggest a collaboration between and ; on "Going to See Them," church bells, a serpentine guitar riff, and a looping rhythm recall 's surreal moods and come alive under headphones as well as on the dancefloor. 's collage-like productions and arrangements are a perfect fit for 's songs about a life in flux. "We're not safe in numbers anymore," she sings on the anti-anthem "Everybody's Down," while wobbly keyboards telegraph the stakes of starting over on the funky yet thoughtful "High Board." On "Epilogue/Overture," she brings order to the chaos of life's overlapping beginnings and endings with some of the album's catchiest choruses and melodies. Throughout , the risks takes pay off handsomely -- it's a promising debut with an intoxicating and infectious feeling of liberation. ~ Heather Phares