On her fifth album Play, Roxanne Potvin might be mistaken for Sheryl Crow’s moody younger sister. There’s little trace of the bluesy stylings that dominated the Montreal-based singer/songwriter’s first several albums in these tracks. Potvin goes for a subdued approach that emphasizes soft vocal shadings and wry lyric twists, fleshed out by Steve Dawson’s well-tailored production. A streak of self-liberation comes through in the subversive musings of “Barricades” and the erotic scenarios of “Keep Your Head.” A hard-charging punk spirit animates “Let Me Go” and the French-language “Dis-Moi Que Tu M’aimes,” while “Magic Rainbow” and “Seashells” glide spookily upon neo-psychedelic waves. Potvin shifts from the childlike spirit of “You Told Me” to the cutting satire of “Born to Win” and “Pretty Girls” and makes them feel like two sides of the same human condition. Her droll cover of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” fits comfortably with her originals. Dawson varies the sonic settings nicely, shifting from eerie lap steel guitar washes to garage-rock outbursts as the tunes require.