[05.02] It's three AM. You're drunk, stoned, lonely, can't sleep, or whatever. You put on your headphones and listen to something to complement your mood: Lambchop's latest, Is a Woman.

In the past decade of Lambchop's existence, they've created a varied body of work that has ranged from Nashville Countrypolitan to Philly Soul tožbratty artiness. They achievedžcritical and popular success with their previous release, Nixon (that's the Philly Soul one). On Is a Woman, Lambchop leader Kurt Wagner gazes inward at his own soul and comes up with a quiet near-masterpiece. It's no small accomplishment to pack all 14 members of the Lambchop crew on the recording and create such intimacy (though it's unlikely that they're all playing on every track). I guess you could call Is a Womanža string quartet compared to Nixon's symphony.

The comparison of mid-to-late career Tom Waits is found in Waits's examinations of the pleasures and terrors of domestic life. For example, in the song "My Blue Wave" Wagner depicts the musings of a guy conjuring up a universe as he observes his dog sleeping: "You lay around the house/nothing much to bark about/jump onto the bed/just bones and squirrels inside your head/this is the only life I see/for you." Later in the song, the narratoržnotes the grief of a friend, "And Williamžcalled and tried/to tell me that his sister's boyfriend has/just died/he's not sure what to do/and I'm not surežwhat to tell himžhe should do/sometimes William we're just screwed." It's more than a character study, it's practically a novel in merely a few verses.

Wagner has a limitedžbutžappealing voice. His sometimes finicky phrasing shows the influence of sometime Lambchop collaborator,žthe singer-songwriter, Vic Chestnutt. Wagner's vocals are placed front and center,žquietly backed by guitar, bass, keyboards and percussionžthat lock into a nice implied groove. Augmenting this is the occasional mournful baritone sax and wispy effects swirling deep in the mix.žIs a Woman is spacious and dreamy, a slow-jam recordžfor the Americana set. If you're grown up and in a sad or reflective mood, you should amble out of the house andžget yourself a copy. —Ken