Musician-turned-actor Chris Isaak is back to doing what he does best: strumming and singing tear-inducing ballads. The happy actor-type Isaak seen on Showtime is just that, an act. His new batch of songs on “Always Got Tonight” are vintage Isaak where he lives in a world of deceit, heartbreak and melancholy. It would be hard to believe songs like “Worked It Out Wrong” and “Life Will Go On” are fabrications of nonexistent attempts at love.

Isaak is content being a tortured soul crooning to reverb-soaked lines such as “Broken sky, heartaches that flowers won’t mend/ say goodbye knowing that this is the end.” Success hasn’t lightened the heart of this troubadour and it shouldn’t. He’s developed into a master of his craft seen in yesteryear’s greats – like Roy Orbison, for one.

Don’t flog Isaak for “Let Me Down Easy” or the title track “Always Got Tonight” as they seem to suffer from major label pressure to include radio friendly AAA singles. Understand “People stand in line to see you fall” from “Courthouse” is more indicative of the album’s mood.

Still, to many Isaak will always be known as the “Wicked Game” guy, the guy with the television show or the guy with his name on everything he owns.

What Isaak continues to be is the guy short on optimistic love and long on mulling over what might have been a great romance.

– Boonie Boone

The first time you hear Neil Halstead’s “Sleeping On Roads” you may think you’ve had the incredible good fortune of stumbling upon a long-lost Nick Drake album.

You haven’t, but you’ve come close.

Halstead, formerly of Mojave 3 and Slowdive, bears the markings of a reincarnated Drake: the same unabashed Brit accent and willowy tonal inflection. Even his Baroque pop melodies sound like they could be right at home on “Five Leaves Left” or “Bryter Layter.”

But Halstead isn’t just another cog in the swelling ranks of vapid Drake rip-offs. It’s been a long time since we’ve been treated to lyrics that are at once so metaphoric, yet articulate. On songs like “Hi-Lo and Inbetween” and “Two Stones in My Pocket,” Halstead packs up the listener’s heartstrings and totes them along as he gingerly retraces his footsteps in and out of love.

That makes listening to “Sleeping On Roads” a bittersweet experience. It’s kind of like finding a dusty photo of your ex that fell behind the dresser or catching a whiff of his or her cologne on a passing stranger. The waves of nostalgia, though uninvited, are hard to shrug off.

For example, lyrics from “Hi-Lo and Inbetween” read: “One day it just snowed I guess and they closed the roads into your heart/ You came home like a dead star, no light left, no lovin’ anymore/ Years ago you sent a postcard, it’s the one that always made me laugh/ It says `Send for reinforcements’ cause there’s too much here for me to love.”

Or from “High Hopes”: “Did I hear you say you want someone to talk to?/ And you want to have someone to hold you close/ You got high hopes for someone good and strong/ Someone good to hold you close/ Well I wish that I could be the one you want, girl/ I wish that I could be the one who’s strong/ But your high hopes are better saved/ For someone else who might stay.”

Halstead, like Drake, possesses the unique ability to lay lyrics like these onto a delicate acoustic guitar filigree, polished to a sheen with background strings and horns.

Drake’s inimitable contributions to music weren’t fully realized by the public until years after his death.

Hopefully it won’t take postmortem recognition for people to appreciate Halstead’s significance as well.

– Bethany Kohoutek

Fat Joe is one of the few big rappers left in the rap world.

Big as in body size.

His latest record, “Jealous Ones Still Envy,” is jam-packed with guest appearances, smooth hooks and tight beats.

Carried by the album’s first single, “We Thuggin’, ” featuring R. Kelly, “Jealous Ones Still Envy” follows the style of dance-like beats and a bundle of guest artists including Busta Rhymes, Xzibit, Ja-Rule, Ludacris and Petey Pablo.

Fat Joe’s delivery remains stylin’ and graceful on the record as songs like “The Wild Life” featuring Xzibit and Prospect and “Get the Hell on with That” featuring Ludacris and Armageddon keep the album, and your head, moving throughout.

The tone of the album is set in the first track as Fat Joe remembers the late Big Pun, who died February 2000.

Many of Fat Joe’s lyrics on the album revolve around the hard truths of life.

Though some tracks on “Jealous Ones Still Envy” get a little redundant, you just can’t beat a rap record with tons of cool guests and a good amount of tight beats and hooks.

– Kyle Moss