k.d. lang - Invincible Summer
(Warner Bros.)

She may be firmly ensconced as a pet artist of the aging VH1 adult pop elite, but that doesn’t mean k.d. lang can’t still make a record that’s relevant.

On her best album since 1992’s classic Ingenue, lang takes a quote from Albert Camus about the concept of one’s own "invincible summer" and turns it into an 11-track ode to summer lovin’. Yeah, sounds like k.d. met a girl, cute as can be. The album is filled with songs about falling, falling, falling in l-u-v.

An organic sounding record that’s deftly complimented by gentle electronic touches, at times Invincible Summer comes off sounding not entirely unlike recent records by Beth Orton and Everything But The Girl. It’s a midtempo ride most of the way throughout, and that’s a more than fine vehicle for k.d.’s soaring voice, especially on slower ones like "Suddenly." The breezy "Summerfling" is definitely 2000’s official entry in the sweepstakes for the best summer song of all time. "Love’s Great Ocean" is classic k.d.—a dreamy semi-ballad written with her Ingenue collaborator Ben Mink. This is a delicate album, but not it is not fluff. Dig your feet into the sand, close your eyes, and dream away.

YEAH YEAH YEAH, 2000