Closer inspection, though, reveals that most of the proceedings are fairly clean-cut and midtempo, with guitars only intermittently attaining heavy density (amidst the Cream-like blues-rock of the wartime statement “The Way the Wind Blows,” for instance). Initial impression of these proggers’ first album since 2002 is that the venerable trio from the Great White North is doing its best to keep up with the complicated concepts of metal bands like Mastodon, which the group has no doubt inspired. But we bet a coffee klatch with these world-weary women would make “Desperate Housewives” look like little girls playing house. Despite its being more rock oriented than 2005’s “The Beekeeper,” this album isn’t much of a sonic progression, and it takes a while for “Posse” to find its voice. Amos embodies each persona, shamelessly declaring herself a MILF (“Big Wheel”), a pubescent hussy (“Teenage Hustling”) or whatever mantle fits the situation. The album’s hefty 23 songs tell the stories of five female archetypes, and it’s so ripe for feminist debate that Epic could market it to literary circles with dignity. Tori Amos invested such effort in the visual and lyrical concepts of “American Doll Posse,” we wish we’d fallen for these ladies like we did for the titular character of Amos’ “Scarlet’s Walk” in 2002.

ARTIST: TORI AMOS ALBUM: AMERICAN DOLL POSSE Seeking low-fi loneliness, Feist always returns to intimate girl-with-guitar ballads (“Intuition,” “The Water”), making “The Reminder” a fantastically colorful and original effort. Cuts like the country-flavored “Past and Present” or the straight-ahead “I Feel It” unearth the artist’s indie-rock roots (Feist is a key member of Toronto collective Broken Social Scene), while the piano-led “My Moon My Man” builds a hypnotic dance groove. But “The Reminder,” recorded in an old mansion outside Paris, has an organic, full-band feel, with more guitars and louder drums. Her chilled-out 2004 debut, “Let It Die,” eased through bossa, French pop, folk and electronica, suggesting someone blissfully trapped in her own world.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - After two years of constant touring, Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist, whose sultry voice is more than magnetic, finally returns with new material.

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