Wild and worth the ride

Joan Osborne

Little Wild One (Womanly Hips)

ESSENTIAL "Sweeter Than the Rest"

The title track of Joan Osborne's superb new album is a masterful mix of seduction and sensuality, with just a hint of creepiness. "The fire is burning/ The time has come," Osborne croons in her honey-whiskey voice to her "Little Wild One." Is Osborne singing to a youthful conquest, or is she recalling the seducers of her younger, wilder self? It's a deceptively complex tune among the gems of "Little Wild One," an album that represents yet another twist in the road of the chameleonic songstress. Leaving the Motown territory of 2007's "Breakfast in Bed," Osborne returns to a rock 'n' soul sound, aided by producer and writers Rick Chertoff, Rob Hyman, and Eric Brazilian, the team on her breakthrough 1995 "Relish" album and its hit, "One of Us." The 11 tracks, many infused with a gospel spirit, celebrate the soul of New York City ("Hallelujah in the City") and the vicissitudes of love ("Meet You in the Middle"). "Light of This World" puts aside the question of "what if God was one of us" to suggest we act like God to one another on earth. The hook from "Sweeter Than the Rest" ("Some are sweet, but you were sweeter") is a fitting coda: Osborne’s newest album is, indeed, her sweetest. [Stephanie Schorow]

Joan Osborne performs at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Sept. 26.