Avril Lavigne

GOODBYE LULLABY

RCA Records

When you have the voice of a perpetual teenager, how do you grow up? That’s the question Avril Lavigne, 26, started grappling with soon after she made her 2002 debut album, “Let Go,” back when she actually was a teenager.

Her chirpy, nasal voice was ideal for the adolescent whine and bratty revenge of songs like “Complicated” and “Sk8ter Boi” on “Let Go,” which has sold more than 6 million copies in the United States.

Now, on “Goodbye Lullaby,” she’s trying to be a little more expansive, vocally and emotionally, without leaving pop territory.

Pop is where her gifts are: matching ringing melodies to generalities and heartfelt cliches. Her new songs are about holding onto long-term love or letting it go without rancor; many of them were produced by her ex-husband, Deryck Whibley, from the pop-punk band Sum 41.

Lavigne proffers song titles like “Wish You Were Here,” “Remember When” and “4 Real.” In the lyrics, love breaks through walls and makes her smile, or fades despite itself into a fond memory. “Even though we didn’t make it through/ I am always here for you,” she sings in “I Love You.” She couldn’t be more earnest; compared with Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, she’s kindly and forgiving.

— Jon Pareles, The New York Times

R.E.M.

COLLAPSE INTO NOW

Warner Bros. Records

Sometimes being legendary can be a drag — so much to live up to, so much new ground to break — and that weight nearly crushed R.E.M. a couple of albums ago.

But with their stunning rebirth on “Accelerate,” Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills cut themselves free. Now, on “Collapse Into Now,” they sound almost giddy, showing a playful side we haven’t seen since 2001’s “Reveal.”

“I feel like an alligator, coming up the escalator,” Stipe fizzily declares in the dizzying “Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter,” which features Peaches sounding like a long lost B-52.

“That Someone Is You” enthusiastically rhymes “Sharon Stone Casino,” “Scarface Al Pacino” and “’74 Torino” in the kind of Buck-driven guitar rave-up that used to be commonplace in the “Reckoning” days.

“Mine Smell Like Honey” sounds like it came from that era, too, especially as Mills’ backing vocals beautifully bounce off Stipe’s growl and Buck gets a bit jangly. “It Happened Today” brings back the lush loveliness (and mandolin) of “Out of Time,” while Eddie Vedder adds some poignant harmonies.

For “Collapse Into Now,” R.E.M. let go of the idea that each album has to have a singular sound and simply let the songs dictate their approach. The result is more organic and a whole lot of fun. Who says legends can’t enjoy themselves, too?

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

Sara Evans

STRONGER

RCA Records Nashville

Sometime around 2005 Sara Evans took a turn toward the dark. The first significant sign was her single “Cheatin,’” a minor hit, and one of the most wicked country songs in recent memory: “You made your bed, and you’re out of mine/ You lie awake, and I sleep just fine.”

“Stronger,” her sixth studio album, is her first since 2005. In the intervening time she had a brief flash of mainstream celebrity on “Dancing With the Stars,” a public divorce and a new marriage.

There’s some joy, but not a lot, on this modest but sharp album, which continues the argument for Evans as an unjustly underappreciated country singer who’s becoming more assured as she gets older.

Again, she doesn’t sound exhausted or woebegone, giving her words a force of purpose and skipping melodrama altogether. Same goes for her gentle, regretful cover of Rod Stewart’s antic “My Heart Can’t Tell You No,” and “Alone,” on which she initially appears to be welcoming a lover’s affections, but is really just letting him down gently.

Less successful are the chipper “Anywhere” and “Ticket to Ride.” These songs (along with “What That Drink Cost Me”) are produced by Nathan Chapman, who has been critical to the success of Taylor Swift, but who may be out of step with Evans’ more mature realities. As she gets older, optimism is a cloud worth dodging.

— Jon Caramanica, The New York Times

Sierra Hull

DAYBREAK

Rounder Records

Sierra Hull burst on the bluegrass scene eight years ago as an 11-year-old mandolin player, invited by Alison Krauss to play on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.

By the time she was 16, her first critically acclaimed album, “Secrets,” had been released. Hull was suddenly the new teen queen of bluegrass. And the buzz about her was almost as loud as it had been for Krauss two decades before.

But that was three years ago. And Hull isn’t a kid anymore. Today, she’s a student at Boston’s famed Berklee College of Music — the first bluegrass musician to ever be awarded the school’s prestigious Presidential Scholarship.

She’s becoming a well-rounded musician and it’s reflected on “Daybreak,” her sophomore album. Hull wrote seven of the 12 songs, including the title cut — essentially a pop ballad.

The prettiest song on the album, though, is Mary Ann Ballard’s gospel ballad, “The Land of Living.”

— Keith Lawrence, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer