The self-titled third album from Mississippi’s Water Liars continues to seek musical transcendence by keeping things honest and direct. Recorded in just three studio sessions in Water Valley, Miss., one late spring and summer, the album depends heavily on the songwriting and vocals of leader Justin Kinkel-Schuster. He's joined here by longtime drummer Andrew Bryant and bassist G.R. Robinson. “Toiling Bells (For Molina)” is a funeral march in memory of Songs: Ohia/Magnolia Electric Co.’s Jason Molina; his loss is felt in the Molina-like trudge of the guitars and in the song’s final few fleeting moments of frustrated distortion. “Ray Charles Dream” veers toward power pop with a bounce nearer to wide-eyed optimism than anything previously found in the group’s catalog. The aggression of “Cannibal,” “War Paint," and “I Want Blood” initially suggest that oblivion was on the band's collective mind, but the gentle acoustics of “Let It Breathe” and the modest arrangements delivering “Vespers,” “Last Escape," and “Turn Me On” reveal a Ryan Adams/Paul Westerberg sense of struggle. Only “Pulp” is left to gear up for a Replacements-type battle.