"Detours" by Sheryl Crow

It may be no coincidence that Sheryl Crow has unleashed her sixth studio album on Super Tuesday. Politically, "Detours" takes left turns that will surprise no one who is aware of her activism. She blasts a "war all based on lies" in "God Bless This Mess," bemoans the climate crisis in "Gasoline" and examines post-Katrina distress in "Love Is Free."

But Crow dances on her soapbox, avoiding tedious polemics with articulate lyrics, breezy arrangements, jaunty melodies and a warm, faintly husky voice that never needs to bellow to be heard. Her personal tunes — an aching reflection on her bout with breast cancer in "Make It Go Away," a rebuke of exfiance Lance Armstrong in "Diamond Ring" and a bittersweet serenade to her son on "Lullaby for Wyatt" — are even more compelling.

This smart, vigorous outing reunites Crow with Bill Bottrell, who produced her '93 debut, "Tuesday Night Music Club," before the friendship derailed. They've come full circle to devise "Detours' " itinerary of spare, folky numbers, big blasts of pop, bouncy rock and splashes of reggae and Arabic.