"Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield

There are few artists who can make 20-something angst sound as sweet as Natasha Bedingfield does. The British singer's sophomore album may be more musically mature than her debut, with stronger songcraft and artfully R&B-spiced pop-candy arrangements. But her tunes are full of youthful longing, from the title track, which yearns for "a secret place" where "there's no more lies/ And the darkness is light," to "Backyard," a wistful paean to lost childhood.

On love songs, Bedingfield finds girl power not in avoiding romantic cliches but in emboldening them. "You're the one that I want," she confidently croons to guest Sean Kingston on "Love Like This," while on the more pensive "Soulmate" she asks "why I'm on my own" without self-pity. "Sometimes I still feel like that little girl/ Who doesn't belong in her own world," Bedingfield admits on "Freckles," "but I'm getting better at reminding myself." And reminding us as well.

— Elysa Gardner

"Jukebox" by Cat Power

On this sequel to 2000's "The Covers Record," Chan Marshall submits a fresh batch of eclectic remakes, from a sensual yet aloof reading of "New York, New York" to a drowsy take on Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain." She updates her own "Metal Heart" with a stiffer beat and slyly gender-flips The Highwaymen's "Silver Stallion." Unfortunately, her sultry, breathy drone and tendency to skate on the surface of every song grow wearisome.

— Edna Gundersen