Ben Folds

Not long after his move to the Australian outback in 1999, Ben Folds began laboring over Songs for Silverman. The album features the falsetto peaks and pretty pop piano Folds is renowned for, and we, for one, are happy to report that he has elected not to revive the adolescent wit indulged in his days with the Ben Folds Five. Silverman is an organic, slow-cooking effort, right up your alley if you liked his earlier sugary-sweet ballads like “The Luckiest” and “Brick.” In all, this is an even but romantic album. And if that sounds too grown-up to suit your “Battle of Who Could Care Less” tastes, try the Ben Folds website. There you can download his expletive-heavy Dr. Dre cover.