The Voyage of the Shawn Treader

Five years after her last CD, Whole New You, Shawn Colvin is back in the saddle with These Four Walls. After a long stint at Columbia she has moved to Nonesuch Records, but once again she's collaborating with songwriter John Leventhal, her creative partner ever since her amazing 1989 debut album Steady On (Leventhal, by the way, is married to Rosanne Cash, and the song "I'm Gone" on Four Walls sounds suspiciously similar to Cash's recent track "House on the Lake.")

The new CD kicks off with the radio single "Fill Me Up." It's catchy while it lasts but the trite lyrics don't have any staying power. Most of the tracks that follow are originals by Colvin and Leventhal, with two cover songs thrown in (Paul Westerberg's "Even Here We Are" and "Words" by the Gibb brothers). The title track is lovely, and Colvin and guest vocalist Patty Griffin sound great together on "Cinnamon Road."

Despite these strengths, These Four Walls is a disappointment. The main problem is that it sounds incredibly familiar. My partner didn't even know I was playing Shawn's new CD when he got home because he couldn't distinguish it from Fat City or A Few Small Repairs. Don't get me wrong. I love Shawn's sound, and "Polaroids," "Shotgun Down the Avalanche," "Richochet in Time" and "Sunny Came Home" rank among my favorite pop/folk songs of the past 20 years.

But unlike her contemporary Suzanne Vega and her idol Joni Mitchell, Shawn has done little in the way of experimenting with new styles and genres, and her sonic sameness could very well stop her from attaining legendary status in the biz.

I don't doubt that Leventhal is a genius and obviously Shawn's partnership with him has yielded many yummy fruits, but it's time for Shawn to walk on the wild side and collaborate with someone outside her safety zone.