Even as her albums and concerts become more ambitious, 's wouldn't be anywhere without the fundamentals she reminds listeners of with . Recorded over a couple of evenings during 's mixing sessions, on the album and pianist strip down the album's songs to reveal new layers of closeness and distance, sincerity and artifice. It's a given that ballads like "Slow Disco," "Happy Birthday, Johnny," and "New York" sound as good, if not better, here than they did with 's glossy, intricate productions, but is arguably most interesting when reinvents the album's most synthetic-sounding pop songs. "Los Ageless" finds new life as a slinky torch ballad, while "Sugarboy" sounds even more reckless without a drumbeat holding it down. and get especially creative with the arrangements on "Pills," which shift from a nagging, rumbling low end to fizzy, high arpeggios, and "Savior," where 's rippling playing unleashes the song's pathos as much as 's singing. Her voice rightfully takes center stage on in a way it couldn't on , and it's a treat to hear her unadorned, muscular soprano on "Young Lover" and the brief, dazzling reinterpretation of "Fear the Future." Occasionally, borders on being too stark for its own good, but the songs hold their power in this unvarnished setting. ~ Heather Phares