It would be an understatement to say that the nine years between Cheers to the Fall and CASSANDRA (cherith) were eventful for Andra Day. Most famously, she starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, consequently won a Golden Globe and a Grammy, and was nominated for an Academy Award. The additional soundtrack material, featured appearances, and stray singles she recorded during the interim could constitute a whole other album. Meanwhile, Day also stockpiled songs for her second LP as the first one, thanks to "Rise Up" -- performed at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and embraced by the Black Lives Matter movement -- remained in the air. While the singer's second album is full of heartache like her first, it's rather different -- less stylized, more modern, and seemingly more personal. Day again co-wrote and co-produced everything but teamed with an almost entirely new cast of collaborators. It often sounds like the effort of a band, one that can play traditional soul and pop with seamless integration of contemporary flavors. The album's sharper bite sinks in with Day's taunting cadences on "Maybe Next Time," a slow-dipping dismissal: "Mad because in songs about my past, I mention my ex/Don't worry, n*gga, you next, and this one might be my best." In "Narcos (H.C.D.)," which starts by referencing the theme of the like-titled television series before setting into faintly psychedelic dub pop, Day brands her man as "fraudulent" but doesn't acquit herself, categorizing her inability to let go as "Capricorn shit, I guess." Just as noteworthy is the elegance with which Day can deliver lines as conversational as "See, I have the homies and my kin who look out for me/They could see you pulling me out of my character" (from the Elton John-evoking "Probably"). At other points, Day either flashes back to or basks in mad love, and sounds equally impassioned whether it's a wispy acoustic ballad like "Chasing" or the cinematic soul noir of "Midnight." Apart from the two closing pieces that communicate release and spiritual gratitude, each song has a kind of tension to it that suggests real life experience. Captivating enough while she is in the grip of a love she can't escape, Day is positively spellbinding in the rare moments when she's in control, as on "Nervous," a 21st century soul-jazz ballad that says, in a confrontational way, "You can't handle me," only to end with a confession to set the subject at ease. ~ Andy Kellman