To Whom It May Concern

"Lights Out" is a countrified pop collaboration with Glen Ballard in which the singer's tough, bittersweet lyrics obliquely confront the daunting legacy of Elvis and the Memphis where her "family's buried and gone". Her husky alto isn't the only thing that recalls Sheryl Crow; the bristling textures of Andy Slater (Wallflowers) and Eric Rosse (Tori Amos) are a veritable textbook of modern-rock techniques, wed to some smart cover choices that bolster her music's moody, introspective bent. But that gloss sometimes makes Presley seem like a guest artist on her own album, making one curious to hear her in the setting where her father was so often riveting: alone in the spotlight. --Jerry McCulley