Amy Trail, Lushious Life (Independent)

On her second independent release, Amy Trail locates herself fruitfully in a piano-driven singer-songwriter mode circa the mid-1970s. Elegantly simple melodies and effortless lyrics recall Carole King and her peers (if she had any at that time), framing her songs in the same jazz and R&B-inflected chords. At times she gets funkier (the positive “Livin’ Life Lovin’ Together”) while other moments get soulful (the slow jam duet with Sean C. on “Everything I’ve Got”), but in all cases, she puts her warm voice in the best light possible. Like many songwriterly albums, there comes a point when a musical counterpoint would be nice—a lead guitar player, a horn player to solo and add color—but what’s here is charming and assured.