The wait between 's 2008 debut and 2014 follow-up was a mighty long time, but during it, she was featured on several songs by her contemporaries, including 's "Nobody Wins a War," 's "4Evermore," 's "Black Gold," and 's "Light the Universe." For her second album, she changed labels, from to , and worked extensively with and , both of whom produced five of these songs, as well as , , and . is dressed up like a theatrical tale regarding a rocky relationship and resilience in its wake, from 's elaborate butterfly dress to a carefully plotted-out sequence of songs. The album begins with an "exordium" rather than an introduction, the title track has an "augment" rather than a part two, and several cuts sound less like isolated ideas, more suited for specific points in the story. The strength of the material tends to justify the scheme. Each one of the collaborations has at least a touch of dusty, classic style -- escalating string vamps and bittersweet horn lines -- with crunching and knocking drums and discreet synthesizer shading. He's the best creative match for her. Meanwhile, "Struggle to Be," produced by , is a hypnotizing duet with lone guest vocalist , and "Forever" makes for an emotional high point with ' slamming drums and drawn-out smears of organ. never sounds as if she's trying particularly hard. Her expressions merely pour out, making it easy to overlook her skill. While 2008's was enjoyable, this is more focused and has serious repeat-play quality, as if knew exactly what she wanted to do and did it to the fullest. ~ Andy Kellman