COUNTRY

Lady Antebellum, "Need You Now" (Capitol Nashville)

The best song on the second album by this wildly successful soft-country trio is "When You Got a Good Thing," which oozes regret like a scraped-up 1980s Don Henley number. Except in one way: Lady Antebellum never gets to the hurt. As on many of its songs, a danger is looming, but it never arrives. It feels hypothetical.

Because Lady Antebellum eschews trauma altogether, its songs allow the group -- Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood -- to sing about heartbreak cheerily, as it did so effectively on its 2008 self-titled debut album, on the cut "All We'd Ever Need" and particularly the hit "Love Don't Live Here." Here the lead vocal duties largely trade off between the sweet-voiced Scott, heavy with the enunciation and with little patience for grace notes, and Kelley, who gets better as he gets muddier, although he rarely aims for that.

On "If I Knew Then," from the new album, Lady Antebellum at least appears genuinely hurt and sluggish, although the lyrics detail a catalog of unspecific remorse: Again, the pain is vague. Its attempts at gravitas land awkwardly, and its optimistic songs, such as "Our Kind of Love," teem with empty metaphor.

For this group, naming the feeling is more important than detailing how one gets there. The only place the group breaks free of its own dignity is "Love This Pain," one of this album's most raucous musical numbers and, crucially, the one on which Kelley digs into his lower register, closer to soul music than country. He lasts there maybe a good five seconds before retreating back to the haze.

JON CARAMANICA, NEW YORK TIMES

Jazz

Vijay Iyer, "Historicity" (ACT)

This CD by pianist Iyer made many top 10 lists for 2009, and it's easy to understand why. His trio conception here is close to groove bands. His playing with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore is often percussive and uses fluid repetitions to build tension and generate climaxes. It's heady but accessible, as on Stevie Wonder's "Big Brother." An invigorating aspect is how his trio generates energy and takes risks that make for good solos and good jazz. Odd meters abound, and many innovations score.

Composer and pianist Andrew Hill is an influence, especially on his chunky "Smoke Stack." Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere" comes out sounding otherworldly and understated though still appealing, while "Galang" by hip-hop star M.I.A. contributes a mesmerizing dance beat for Iyer's explorations.

KARL STARK, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER