Pop

Laura Marling
Alas, I Cannot Swim
(Astralwerks ***1/2)

Never mind the British neo-soul invasion. The British neo-folk invasion starts with Laura Marling, the spookily self-possessed songwriter who seems to have absorbed a lifetime's worth of wisdom in her haunting songs about love and death, though she's just 18. With a cool, clear voice and spare, understated arrangements, Marling's songs like "Night Terror," "Crawled Out of the Sea," and "Ghosts" recall Brit folk soulstresses such as Linda Thompson and Sandy Denny. They're delivered with a preternatural calm, but in romantic narratives like "Tap at My Window" or seafaring tales such as "The Captain and the Hourglass," it's always clear that there's trouble lurking beneath the surface. Marling plays the Side Chapel at the First Unitarian Church on Sept. 17.

- Dan DeLuca

Jonas Brothers
A Little Bit Longer
(Hollywood ***1/2)

Rather than think of Nicholas, Kevin and Joseph Jonas as Disney's newest kiddie pop heroes (not that there's anything wrong with kids or their pop), try to reposition the trio as part of bubblegum's rich history. This allows the Jonas Brothers proximity to the family of fizzy pop that is the Raspberries, OK Go and Big Star rather than tween teases Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus. Caramel-coated choruses, ever-ascending melodies, and amped-up fuzz tones are the order of the day on rave-ups such as "Video Girl" (itself a diss on teen celebrity) and "Pushin' Me Away." The Bros might stop for a simmering trek through mid-tempo R&B ("Burnin' Up") worthy of the grown-up New Edition and heartbroken ballads ("Sorry"). There are ham-fisted moments, for sure. But from the bubblegum burst of "BB Good" to "Lovebug," with its journey from acoustic smoothie to crunching Queen-esque finale, Longer is a sweet, harmony-filled ride you won't mind feeling childish for loving.

- A.D. Amorosi

Lykke Li
Youth Novels
(LL/Warners ***1/2)

If you've been charmed by Lykke Li's single "A Little Bit" - her chirping, girlish voice; her appealing accent that turns "love" into "luff"; the spacious, high-relief instrumentation - the good news is that the young Swede's debut album follows suit. And if the song's repetitions have worn thin or made it seem like a novelty (likely Lykke Li reactions), rest assured that the rest of Youth Novels stretches in different directions. Li likes pop hooks, but she also likes arty experimentation in minimalism.

Produced and cowritten by Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn & John, Youth Novels highlights Li's shy, inviting voice with sparse, precise arrangements, often just keyboards and drums, but also solitary horns, reggae bass, or tropical acoustic guitars. Songs such as the irresistibly catchy "I'm Done, I'm Gone" and the comparatively extroverted "Breaking It Up" assure that Li possesses more than a little bit of poppy inventiveness.

- Steve Klinge

The Toadies
No Deliverance
(Kirtland **)

They're back. The seedy Texas band that thrived in the "alternative nation' of mid-'90s America - thanks largely to the right-place, right-time album Rubberneck and its biggest single, "Possum Kingdom" - has contributed a new album to the stack of recent entries from reunited alt-rockers. Front man Todd Lewis' gravel-raked, bluesy belch is as coarse as ever, armed with seething lyrics to match the Toadies' strident yet undeniably catchy bar-band rock. Lewis wails on the title track as if Kurt Cobain had never died and grunge never faded, and "Song I Hate" is a glossy grab for a hit that will remind most people of an angrier Everclear or Cracker. Toadies fans should eagerly welcome this album, but the rest of us? Not so much.

- Doug Wallen

Country/Roots

Sugarland
Love on the Inside
(Mercury ***)

Say this much for Sugarland: The fast-rising duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush have used their success as an opportunity for artistic growth. And they sure did need to grow. They don't sacrifice much in the way of commercial accessibility, but they also don't retreat into the slicker and more superficial aspects of their appeal.

Love on the Inside has a warm, rootsy feel, with lots of acoustic instruments and a live-sounding immediacy that heightens the emotional force of Nettles' powerhouse vocals. From the bluesy come-on of an opener, "All I Want to Do," to the starkly reflective closer, "Very Last Country Song," Nettles and Bush (and various cowriters) have come up with their most substantial collection of songs. (A deluxe edition adds five cuts to the original 12.)