The Wall Street Journal is streaming Blackbirds in its entirety as an exclusive album premiere. The accompanying article says “The songs fluctuate between gritty, dark numbers and lush ballads that touch on death (“Blackbirds”), struggling veterans (“When All You Got Is a Hammer”), and her own childhood (“The House on Auburn Street”). While mortality seems to be one of the topics she honed in on this time around – at one point during the songwriting process, she attended three memorial services in just a week – she has a more existential way of describing this batch of songs. “The album is more about what our awareness of ourselves as temporary beings is,” she says.”

To listen to Blackbirds and read the feature, see the article at the Wall Street Journal’s website.