Chesney mostly swims in circles with Fishbowl

LITTLE ROCK — Kenny Chesney

Welcome to the Fishbowl

BNA B

Well, this is an improvement over Kenny Chesney’s last one, the ponderous Hemingway’s Whiskey that marked the country singer’s return after a hiatus. Of course country fans didn’t seem to think so, as they adored Chesney as much as, if not more than, before the short time off.

Welcome to the Fishbowl has already generated a hit, “Feel Like a Rockstar,” the anthem with Tim McGraw. The title track, written by Kenny Chesney and Skip Ewing, is a pointed send-up of celebrity and might be the most personal - and therefore the most interesting - thing Chesney has done in a while.

The rest, written by the requisite squadron of Nashville pros, is boilerplate Chesney - meaning mostly slow, sentimental and/or nostalgic. At the end he includes a live version of his last huge hit, “You and Tequila,” the duet with Grace Potter. Seems like an oddly opportunistic move for a guy who the market says can do no wrong.

Hot tracks: “Welcome to the Fishbowl.”

• WERNER TRIESCHMANN

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Here

Vagrant A

Alex Ebert’s journeyman, Jethro Tull-ish Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is so fun and fresh you just want to squeeze it. Many came to Ebert by way of “Home,” the 2009 sub-pop hit that was quickly reprised by Jorge and Alexa Narvaez for YouTube in a meme that ticked 21 million views and counting, which landed the Narvaez father daughter duo a couple of Super Bowl spots for Hyundai, one of which featured them singing “Home” in the cabin of a minivan on their way home.

Ebert’s latest is more tent-revival folk-rock, heavy on organs, primitive percussion - hand clapping, tambourine, castanets - and gospel-choir harmonies. I say “Jethro-Tull-ish” because Edward Sharpe, a fallen prophet sidelined by love of women, is a fictional character created by Ebert.

The message, though, is decidedly un-ecumenical. It’s pagan: “I don’t wanna pray to my maker/I just wanna be feelin’ free/Not like in a book ... from a word that means only not a thing.”

He’s in love with the physical word and he tempts us in. He and that demagogue priestess, Jade Castrinos, with her flat backing vocals. So flat they clap.

Hot track: “Dear Believer.”

• BOBBY AMPEZZAN

Patti Smith

Banga

Columbia A-

OK people, you don’t have to know anything about Piero della Francesca, the Italian Renaissance artist, or director Andrei Tarkovsky or, for that matter, even the late Amy Winehouse, to get into the new Patti Smith album. You should, however, remember your world history class enough to know who Amerigo Vespucci is.

That’s not to say knowledge doesn’t lend insight to these songs. It does; know a little and you’ll enjoy Banga more. Fact is, Smith has crafted her best album in decades, perhaps her best since the groundbreaking Horses.

From the poppy “April Fool” and the epic and daring rocker “Constantine’s Dream” to the punkish title song (named for Pontius Pilate’s dog in Mikhail Bulgakov’s 1928 novel The Master and Margarita), Smith is fresh and adventurous. Deluxe edition comes with a book and an extra tune.

Hot tracks: The snarling “Banga,” her tune about discovery and colonialism, “Amerigo,” the sweet doo wopish Winehouse tribute “This Is the Girl,” the epic “Constantine’s Dream.”

• ELLIS WIDNER

Hot Chip

In Our Heads

Domino B

“I like Zapp/not Zappa.”

That’s a line from “Night and Day,” Track 6 on In Our Heads, Hot Chip’s latest assemblage of sprightly, clever dance grooves. No, there aren’t any of those killer underwater-digital vocal effects Roger Troutman used, but it has the same inventive, fun feel as vintage Zapp.

This is a worthy successor to 2009’s fine One Night Stand, and it finds the London-based Hot Chip in a breezy and optimistic mood, forging invigorating and hook-filled dance soundscapes without compromise. This is accessible electronica and will likely be the soundtrack to many a hot, sweaty summer night spent on the dance floor.

Hot tracks: The life-affirming “How Do You Do,” the poppish “Don’t Deny Your Heart,” the mournful slow-jam “Now There Is Nothing.”

• SEAN CLANCY

Rob Baird

I Swear It’s the Truth

Carnival B-

Here’s a very tuneful acoustic country-rock record. Rob Baird has a sandpapery voice that he smartly doesn’t push too much in these mostly midtempo or slower songs of downbeat romance.

The downbeat part - rather relentless here - is of course the thing that dulls whatever enthusiasm you might have for Baird’s ability to write a catchy tune.

Hot track: “Along the Way.”

• WERNER TRIESCHMANN