Say Goodbye

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Genre-hopping, Indianapolis-based singer/songwriter Liz Janes' fourth studio album for Asthmatic Kitty plays fast and loose with traditional indie pop themes. While Say Goodbye is as warm, quirky, and likably precious as anything else on the Sufjan Stevens co-founded label, Janes infuses the collection with enough jazz and soul that it hardly belongs in the same section as Jookabox or Shapes and Sizes. Janes, who has been a member of, or shared the stage with, everyone from Stevens and the Castanets to Jandek and the Black Heart Procession, has the kind of voice that spills out like warm summer rain, and when she sticks to straight-up midtempo balladry (“I Don’t Believe,” “Bodies,” “Firefly,” “Time and Space”) the results are quietly stunning. The laid-back vibe that permeates Say Goodbye can be a little sleep inducing at times (major sevenths and fluttery electric piano runs should come in pill form), but Janes imbues each track with such an effortless glow that it’s hard not to recommend, especially in the gray-blue dead of winter.