Nina Nastasia & Jim White: You Follow Me

Dirty Three's Jim White has drummed for Cat Power and PJ Harvey, so it's no shock that he ended up with Nina Nastasia. Nastasia's mood-stricken folk-rock fits neatly among her better-known peers, but unlike her other White-backed discs, Run To Ruin and On Leaving, the new You Follow Me grants the drummer equal billing. It isn't a token gesture: White's ragged yet jazzy pulse fills every inch of the space Nastasia previously stuffed with strings and piano. Stripped of finery, You Follow Me is Nastasia's purest, most assured work yet, a raw acoustic set that sweeps sentiment out of dusty corners and slips into sudden whispers as White frisks around and across her stark chords. And when Nastasia's voice rises from a delicate mumble to a piercing cry, it's enough to make hearts follow suit.