Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Its record label cites Arcade Fire and The Flaming Lips as reference points, but this fey English pop band lacks both passion and theatricality. Clearly, the group has epic-pop pretensions, having enlisted producer Trevor Horn (Frankie Goes to Hollywood). But, despite sweeping melodies and the boy-girl harmonies of Rik Flynn and Clare Szembek, songs like “Frontline,” “Glorious” and “East, West, North, South” amount to empty dramatic gestures. Ultimately, with its ship well adrift, this Captain deserves a mutiny.   Sept. 19

Some found the duet with her dead father creepy, while cynics saw it as crass nostalgia. But Nat “King” Cole’s daughter has long proven herself a gifted singer in her own right. Although best known as a jazz-pop vocalist, this album is a return to her r&b roots, with Cole covering Aretha Franklin’s “Day Dreaming” and The Isley Brothers’ “Don’t Say Goodbye.” The standout track is her deep-soul rendition of Etta James’ “Lovin’ Arms,” but she also bravely tackles pop hits by Fiona Apple, Kate Bush and Shelby Lynne. Sept. 19

Early on, Molly seemed unsinkable: a child star in musicals, then a successful new waver and art rocker in Toronto’s Queen Street scene. As a jazz chanteuse, however, she missed the wave that took Diana Krall and Cassandra Wilson to the top. Things changed with her last album, the classy Another Day, which became a huge hit in France. Johnson’s star will likely go supernova with her latest, a mix of funky, campy originals like “Northern Star” and “If You Know Love” and cool covers of Gershwin, Springsteen and Prince. Sept. 19