Paula Cole

Arriving after a decade absence from the music business, Paula Cole's Courage sounds both a return to form and a welcome departure. Songs like "Lovelight" -- with its afrobeat overtones and patter of handclaps -- or the bossa nova of "Hard to Be Soft" boast older, wiser, and more worldly settings for her lite feminist folk singing, even a familiar brand of lofty nostalgia and breathy self-discovery exists just below the bongos. For a highlight, try the sultry "I Wanna Kiss You."