Editor’s Note: In Sound Advice, the first Thursday of every month, veteran NEWS entertainment writer Dale McGarrigle reviews new rock, pop, alternative, country, folk or blues albums. Different NEWS writers contribute reviews from other musical genres.

“Look Into the Eyeball” (Luaka Bop/Virgin) – David Byrne

Throughout his lengthy career, the former Talking Heads frontman has let his ears be his muse, exploring the sounds that intrigued him at that time.

On “Look Into the Eyeball,” Bryne attempts, and largely succeeds, in wedding the warmth of strings and orchestral parts with the beat of too-often-sterile groove music.

He and producer Mike Mangini (Digable Planets, Imani Coppola) took the songs Byrne had written, then selected a diverse group of arrangers, including Greg Cohen (Tom Waits), Jacques Morelenbaum (Caetano Veloso) and the legendary Thom Bell, best known for the Gamble-Huff-Philly soul sound. For the recording, Byrne brought in the familiar rhythm section of Shawn Pelton, Mauro Refosco and Paul Frazier, with other musicians weaving in and out of the mix.

The result is one eclectic passel of songs, tied together only by Byrne’s distinctive, plaintive baritone. These dozen accessible, often short tunes offer pithy statements about human relationships, all in an ear-catching way.

Some of those stuck in the past may still bemoan Byrne’s departure from Talking Heads, but as “Look Into the Eyeball” and his previous solo albums have shown, he’s still got plenty to say in ever-changing ways.

“Trouble in Shangri-la” (Reprise) – Stevie Nicks

Rock ‘n’ roll’s original witchy woman is back with the much-awaited “Trouble in Shangri-la.” Her first solo release since 1994’s lukewarm “Street Angel” is vintage Stevie – all flowing skirts and spellbinding lyrics, wrapped in her unmistakable gravelly voice.

Some of it really is vintage. Nicks wrote some of the strongest tracks on the album in the ’70s. “Candlebright” and “Sorcerer” have traces of that lace-and-cobwebs sound that she cultivated early in her career, but co-producer Sheryl Crow adds a little edge to the mix.

The credits of “Trouble in Shangri-la” read like a who’s who of women musicians. There’s “Too Far from Texas,” a jangly duet with Dixie Chick Natalie Maines. The equally gravelly Macy Gray makes an appearance in “Bombay Sapphires.” And in “Love Is,” Sarah McLachlan’s backup sounds like gossamer – fragile, beautiful and luminous.

All this star power can’t, however, make up for the sometimes-flat lyrics. When it works, Nicks’ poetry is magical. When it doesn’t, it’s forced or disjointed, as in “Bombay Sapphires”: “It is green/It is aqua marine/It is colors I have never seen.”

Nicks makes up for it in the driving “Sorcerer” and “Planets of the Universe,” which resonates against a haunting guitar riff: “If I had my life to live over/I would never dream, no/I still wish you gone/And I will live alone.” She’s at her best when she’s spinning a web around her own life, love and loss. In “Trouble in Shangri-La” that web is loose in places, but where it’s tight, it’s absolutely captivating. (By Kristen Andresen)

“No More Shall We Part” (Reprise) – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Starting a review by pointing out that an album is “fine if you like that sort of thing,” could be considered an ill omen for the opus under the microscope. But I don’t really mean it too harshly. After all, this is Nick Cave we’re talking about here, which means “that sort of thing” is always pretty fabulous stuff. It’s simply that I’ll be surprised if Old Nick grabs many new converts with his latest offering.

There’s nothing particularly bad about “No More Shall We Part,” which adds several notable noodlings to Cave’s staggering catalog. But the overall impression one gets from the album is one of pedestrianism. Missing is the depraved preaching, the sense of impending doom, that leaves you loath to listen with the lights out. Instead, Cave murmurs a sermon softly and vacates the pulpit for a wilted meander through cloisters already well traveled; scuffs pointed boots at the dried leaves.

Of course, old Nick is older now. Maybe melancholy has begun to quell his fires. Perhaps he is finally beginning to let love in.

Still, I can’t help believing there’s some truth to the rumor that Cave has taken to approaching his songwriting like a job – regular hours in an office, crunching out the copy. I’m also inclined to believe, holding that to be the case, that the muse works slightly different hours to her scribe.

“No More Shall We Part” is a worthy effort, actually beautiful in many places, and no doubt, come year’s end, will have proved to be one of the better albums that arrived on my desk. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled by his impeccable history of surpassing himself, but I can’t help expecting more. (By Adam Corrigan)

“Common Place” – Evergreen

This veteran bluegrass quartet from central Maine has returned with its first album since 1997’s “Roots & Branches,” and this quality release offers something for everyone.

There’s country, roots, blues and folk, all, of course, with a healthy dollop of banjo, guitar, harmonica and often mandolin (courtesy of guest musician Bill Thibodeau). But one would expect nothing less from the diverse combination of Joe and Nellie Kennedy, Steve Chiasson and Chris Prickitt. They’re experienced musical chameleons, and “Common Place” reflects that.

There’s a cover of Michael Martin Murphy’s familiar “Carolina in the Pines.” There’s a half-dozen originals by Prickett and Chiasson. There’s songs borrowed from musician friends or overheard at a club here or a festival there. Yet Evergreen makes them all their own.

The foursome all take their turn singing lead and harmony vocals, and as the vocal duties change, so does the instrumentation. This keeps the album fresh, or to put it another way, evergreen.

“Common Place” is another strong example of the stay-at-home musical talent that exists throughout Maine. Evergreen has come out with another winner.

(“Common Place” is available at Borders and Bull Moose Music in Bangor.)