Kelly Hogan – Because It Feel Good

Atlanta expat Hogan, currently of Chicago, headed back to Georgia — Athens, to be precise — is looking for the heart of Saturday night on the corners of Heartache and Pine. Hogan’s ten-song selection of assorted weepers and waltzers includes originals plus covers of tunes by Randy Newman, Charlie Rich, King Floyd and the Statler Brothers.

Interestingly, the album has more in common with her early band the Jody Grind or the low-key, torchy popfest of her little-heard ’96 album The Whistle Only Dogs Can Hear than with the better-known countrypolitan wanderings of last year’s Beneath The Country Underdog and her outings with pals such as Neko Case, the Sadies and Jon Langford. Rich’s “Stay” is haunting and spectral (no drums), illuminated by a simmering guitar melody that flickers in time to Hogan’s breathy, Sarah Vaughan-like incantations, while King Floyd’s “Please Don’t Leave Me Lonely” is pure Dusty Springfield grandeur and swoon.

Elsewhere, her own “No, Bobby Don’t” sashays back and forth to elegant strings (courtesy Andrew Bird) and a Phil Spectorish production as Hogan unfurls heartbreak, ’60s teen-girl style. Equally striking, if somewhat improbable, is Bill (Smog) Callahan’s “Strayed”, an adulterous, mocking confessional marked by sobbing violin and pedal steel plus neo-anthemic guitars that contrast wonderfully with Hogan’s jazz-diva persona.

Hogan newly defines the term “disheveled elegance” here, emotional and passionate in her ruffled dress and smudged lipstick. She’s a Southern belle at all costs, no matter in what city she chooses to receive her, ahem, male.