Dar Williams

It took us a long time to warm up to Dar Williams. She seemed like a better groomed, more temperate Ani DiFranco, or a Nanci Griffith without the twang–a little boring, a little forgettable. However, her new album, My Better Self, is a revelation. These catchy urban folk songs display a wry sense of humor and a gift for narrative songwriting. The highlight, “Teen for God,” is a funny, frightening, and dead-on character study. Two covers, Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,” with guest Marshall Crenshaw, and Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” a duet with Ms. DiFranco, highlight a thread of political commentary; on the whole, this collection comes up first as fun to listen to, and second, as unexpectedly thought-provoking.