It's not often that folk singers can claim Madonna as their sister in law, and it's with the same frequency they can get Helmet's Page Hamilton to play guitar on their new release. Joe Henry, however, isn't a folk singer. Not anymore. Trampoline is a woozy breath of fresh air filtered through impecible arrangements, odd synthesizers, guitars and strings, and Henry's frail yet husky voice.

In the song "Ohio Air Show Plane Crash," Henry writes from the viewpoint of a spectator who's thinking about his relationship when a plane nosedives into a lake. It's pulled off quite majestically, really unlike any song I've heard this year.

Because Henry is still a folk singer at heart, it's the lyrics that really catch the ear. The somber, creepy "Bob and Ray" tells of a protagonist ("In my bare feet / my flashlight, robe, and blown TV / reading an in-flight magazine about Bob and Ray"); "I Was a Playboy" glides on the thoughts of a man giving up his bed-hopping lifestyle, not apologizing but merely explaining that "I was a playboy / and you just a plaything to me."

Whether or not Henry ever returns to more of a folk-based sound remains to be seen, but after crafting an album this good, I'd say you have a better chance of getting Bob Dylan to say something coherent.

-Jason Josephes