Anyone who was charmed by Neko Case, take notice: here’s an alluring singer with more quirks, more sex appeal, and a better set of pipes, who specializes in the same brand of late-night, film-noir roots music that Case explored on her last disc with mixed but promising results. Hailing from Los Angeles, Mandell is an offbeat pop type whose three previous albums were full of cabaret flavors and confessional lyrics, so the shift to a countrified aesthetic isn’t such a big stretch. But it does require her to tone down the more exuberant aspects of her popper discs and just emote, which she does beautifully, turning in the best sultry whispers this side of Lucinda Williams. The arrangements are understated, with plenty of brushed drums and tremolo guitars (the latter played by the underrated X member Tony Gilkyson, who also produces). Always good with melody, she turns in a number of authentic-sounding original tunes. "Another Lonely Heart" bears out her love for mid-’60s balladry. She loosens up on "You’re All Bad (And That’s Why You’ve Been Invited)," which is campy/vampy enough to live up to its title. But it’s the cover tunes that really show her mettle, as she turns Jeannie Seely’s 1967 hit "Don’t Touch Me" from a honky-tonk ballad into something considerably more obsessive. The standout track wasn’t even written as a country song: "It’s Raining" is the New Orleans soul ballad that Allen Toussaint originally wrote for Irma Thomas. Instead of trying to out-sing Thomas’s version, Mandell strips it down and puts the feelings upfront; the throwaway line "I guess I’ll just go crazy tonight" here suggests any number of intriguing possibilities.