Bluesy is a little bit of a surprise coming from Lisa Loeb, but after hearing Window Shopping, I say it is a sound I want to hear again. The lyric revels in the mundane, unless she is trying for deeper meaning in comparing herself to packaged goods for sale, which is possible. In either case, the tune and that voice — that voice! — makes the song worth many listens. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say that the anthropomorphism is a sly reference to shopping involved in romantic relationships.

You do remember Lisa Loeb, right? She had that big song Stay (I Missed You) back in 1994. It was on the Reality Bites soundtrack, and was released before her band (Nine Stories) had even recorded an album or been signed by a label. Since then she has been signed and put out a series of albums, the latest of which, on her new label, is called The Way It Really Is. Incidentally, The Way It Really Is, was also the name of the lead track on her 2002 release Cake And Pie, but this is a better album than Cake And Pie. She also married Dweezil Zappa, and they have a cooking show, though that (the marriage and presumably the cooking show, too) apparently isn't going so well. But that's not important right now. The Way It Really Is, that's the issue at hand.

After starting well with Windows Shopping, the other ten songs bounce back and forth between radio-friendly pop music (like I Control The Sun) and more stripped-down guitar-and-piano songs (like Hand-Me-Downs), and both styles work for her. Diamonds is also a sparkling surprise, with a sound that wouldn't be out of place on rock radio.

I Control The Sun has a fantastic lyric, highlighting the intractability of the human will, but other songs, like Accident, fall far short in my opinion, counting on observations to carry a song which simply don't.

Try is simply a great song that has been in heavy rotation on my computer now for a few weeks.

The song that most hints at her successful debut is Probably, and I'll be darned if the formula doesn't work yet again. The tune is memorable, the instrumentation deft, and the lyric, if simple, is catchy.

The next two songs, well — not so good.

The final song, Now I Understand is simply perfect.

Now I understand that my heart doesn't stop even though it feels like it could explode. Now I understand that my heart doesn't stop. It beats on and on and on...

The Way It Really Is probably reflects a more mature Lisa Loeb; how could it not? I'm ten years older, too. More than half of the songs on the album work well, and the few clunkers are easily skipped.

Overall, I give it 3.5 out of five stars.