**1/2 Carrie Newcomer

MY FATHER'S ONLY SON

(Philo)

On her fourth and finest album, Carrie Newcomer takes a cosmic view, being concerned with her place and role in time and space in relation to her surroundings, ancestors, friends, loved ones past and present, and descendants. As the tomboy among three sisters, she is the dutiful "son" of the title track, fishing with her father. On "Amelia Almost 13" she empathizes with a daughter on the brink of womanhood. On "Tracks," she seeks to walk in harmony with the natural world; on "Crazy in Love" she reconciles herself to emotional surrender.

Newcomer is at her best in songs like these, where she paints portraits of particular people or situations, avoiding the tendency to preach or moralize that occasionally dogs her work. Produced by Mark Williams and husband/bandmate Robert Meitus, her latest boasts a more fluid, organic feel than earlier efforts, perhaps because it was recorded with her touring band. Her knowing alto recalls Joan Armatrading, her hooks suggest Cheryl Wheeler, and the country/folk/pop/rock arrangements evoke Mary Chapin Carpenter.

-- Seth Rogovoy

(Carrie Newcomer plays in the Festival of Women Songwriters at the Somerville Theatre this Saturday, February 22. Call 628-3390.)