Michelle Lewis's This Time Around is an album of what sound like very personal songs. They are written with passion and a real depth of feeling, and they are performed in the same vein.

Listening closely to some of the lyrics, I was struck by the similarities to works we heard from Leonard Cohen in the 1960s, although Lewis seems to bring the emotions down to an even more personal level. The lyrics are raw and sometimes a bit despairing, but are very effective.

Among the stand-out tracks are "Caroline" and "Fifth Floor Song." The latter is a very well-constructed song that evokes a real sense of place, even if the place is less than salubrious. On "Could Be You" Lewis again gives us a set of lyrics that show a real depth of feeling but also a great command of language.

Many of the tracks on here would fit extremely well in those segments we seem to get more and more often on mainstream television where before the end credits there is a verse of a song, most often by little known performers. If a few of Lewis's songs could get such an airing -- and be visibly credited -- she would achieve a very wide fan base.

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