The early part of 2002 looks like a fine time for female voices, especially those that haven’t been heard on disc in a while. Tanya Donelly hasn’t exactly been quiet in the five years since her last album: she’s given birth to a daughter, played a one-off Throwing Muses reunion, and made a bunch of semi-secret club appearances (most recently singing "Silent Night" during Fuzzy’s Christmas show at 608). Now she’s set for a full-fledged return with Beautysleep (4AD, January 27), which sounds like her best work since Belly’s debut, as she tones down the loud rock elements and brings up the beautiful, dreamlike abstraction.

Also wrapped up and long-awaited is Kay Hanley’s solo debut, Cherry Marmalade, which is set to be released as soon as her pending deal with Zoe/Rounder gets hammered out. (Her just-launched Web page sums matters up neatly: "I will put it out as soon as I can, but I can’t pull it out of my ass, okay?") Local fans have gotten plenty of chances to hear the new songs over the past year, so they shouldn’t be surprised by the more mature and introspective nature of the material. But with a bunch of familiar faces in evidence — producer Mike Denneen, husband and former Letters to Cleo guitarist Michael Eisenstein, bassist Ed Valauskas, and soon-to-be ex-Orbit drummer Paul Buckley — it shouldn’t be that glaring a departure.

City Sounds, Mary Lou Lord’s second full-length, is the one her fans have probably expected for years: a live album recorded at her two favorite busking haunts, Harvard Square and Park Street Station. She’s been selling the disc at those places over the past few months; the new version (out January 25 on Rubric) differs only in having a less cheesecaky cover photo. The mostly-covers set is a fine example of Lord’s wide-ranging æsthetic — cult heroes like Stephin Merritt and Daniel Johnston are represented alongside touchstones like Dylan, Springsteen, and Richard Thompson — and her ability to inhabit the most challenging songs.

A pair of ace guitarists unveil their new projects in the coming months. Former Mighty Mighty Bosstone Nate Albert’s new band the Brakes includes familiar faces from a lot of places — ex-Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh, Bosstones drummer Joe Sirois, and Shods/Details guitarist Dave Aaronoff among them. Look for a bunch of between-the-eyes rockers and absolutely no ska on the disc, which is slated for late winter on the newly formed Fenway Recordings label (set up by returning Bostonian Mark Kates, who previously ran the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label). Meanwhile, guitarist Chris Brokaw — recently with Come, Steve Wynn, Clint Conley, Evan Dando, and a roomful of others — has wrapped up a solo debut, the all-instrumental Red Cities (due in late winter on Matador honcho Gerard Cosloy’s new label, 12XU). A teaser EP, just out on Kimchee, covers the ground one might expect, from scrappy rock to cinematic soundscapes.

Speaking of Evan Dando: the local prodigal son is about to break his recording silence in a big way. A live album, recorded last year at the Brattle Theatre, is already out as an Australian import (Modular), and February brings a new single, "Dead or Anything," by the unlikely trio of Dando, Tom Peterson (of Cheap Trick), and Jason Schwartzman (of Phantom Planet but best known as the bratty kid from Rushmore). A proper studio album, tentatively called In the Grass All Wine-Colored, is due to be made this spring and released in early summer. Dando has lately been writing songs with LA-based pop fiend Jon Brion, originally a Bostonian and an Aimee Mann collaborator who was last seen working with Fiona Apple; Brion is likely to produce the disc as well.

Meanwhile, honorary locals the Figgs have nearly finished their new Slow Charm (due in mid March on Hearbox), which will continue the play for diversity that began on this season’s Badger EP. Buffalo Tom follow their singles compilation Asides with, of course, Besides (March 22, Beggars Banquet), wrapping up their harder-to-find tracks. Kansas City songwriter Mike Ireland, who charmed the alterna-country crowd with his debut CD on Sub Pop, will be moving to Boston in time to release his second disc, Try Again, on Ashmont Records in March. The Dave Wanamaker/Jen Trynin band Loveless follow their recent EP with a full-length disc on Q Division in March. Also due from Q Division in the spring is the first-ever full-length CD from the Flying Nuns; it’ll combine some early demos with an album’s worth of material they recorded before leaving town three years ago. And 27, featuring Maria Christopher and Ayal Naor (ex–Dirt Merchants and ex-Spore, respectively), follow their excellent homonymous debut with Animal Life (Kimchee, late March), which will offer a mix of guitar/drum and sample-based material.