For 2014’s Blood Test, longtime Massachusetts resident Kris Delmhorst opted to return to her home turf in her native Brooklyn. There she was met by coproducer Anders Parker (Varnaline, Gob Iron), who lined up the first-rate Mark Spencer (Freedy Johnston, Laura Cantrell) and Konrad Meissner (Graham Parker, Silos) to fill out the songs. As her first album of new material since 2008’s Shotgun Singer, Blood Test is the sound of a versatile, literate songwriter taking a long exhale. There’s a natural pensiveness to Delmhorst’s material, and even when she sounds as if she’s celebrating in “Bright Green World,” there’s a sense that she’s examining the situation for potential pitfalls. Fortunately, Spencer unleashes some awe-inspiring guitar work (“Temporary Sun,” oh my) that blasts away any fence-sitting and forces Delmhorst to go for it. She returns to her dark side for the acoustic “Hushabye,” where the “dirty air” around Union Square doesn’t escape her notice. Most touching is “My Ohio,” which is “for Roger Beatty,” a friend who never met Delmhorst’s little girl. The pedal steel brings the song home with heartbreak in hand.