SOUND CHECK.

KELLY CLARKSON: "My December" (RCA) - Three stars

Don't think for a minute that because Clarkson scotched her recent solo tour, her third album must be a dud. Instead, "My December" is easily the most interesting record to come out of the "American Idol" juggernaut. Clarkson has never sounded better in a set that shows maturity, emotional range and ambition. These are grown-up songs dealing with anger, pain and heartbreak, with enough uplift to suggest brighter things ahead. And it's the sort of stuff anyone over the age of 10 can probably relate to.

The album, on which Clarkson contributes as a songwriter on each track, opens powerfully with "Never Again," a sturdy, dark rocker that seems linked to her record-breaking '05 hit "Since U Been Gone." Through the rest of the disc, high-energy tracks like "One Minute" and the sparse, pleading "Maybe" help make this a fully satisfying effort.

"Idols" come and go, but Clarkson will be around as long as she demonstrates this sort of commitment.

-- Fred Shuster

NICK LOWE: "At My Age" (Yep Roc) - Three and one half stars

In his first disc in six years, quintessential London wit Lowe delivers the sort of homespun country-rock wisdom you'd expect from Southern soul great Dan Penn if he spent his evenings down at the local pub soaking up pints of Guinness. At age 58, Lowe is meeting the advancing years with his usual wry viewpoint and capacity for surprise. Along with Lowe's lacerating "Love's Got a Lot to Answer For" and "I Trained Her to Love Me," the disc's marvelous covers of Charlie Feather's "The Man in Love," the Uniques' "Not Too Long Ago" and Faron Young's "Feel Again" bring the point home. Fine record.

-- F.S.

THE MIX-UP: "Beastie Boys" (Capitol) - Three stars

A great album by the Beastie Boys that doesn't involve one word, rapped or otherwise? Yup. This totally entertaining, all-instrumental CD celebrates the soulful, funky pre-punk influences that first inspired the definitive New York hip-hop party group. The sequel to '04's "To the 5 Boroughs" finds Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Adam Yauch back on drums, guitar and bass, with help from ace keyboardist Money Mark, on a dozen new party-hearty originals (check out the groove-adelic "The Melee" to start), without a sample or scratch in sight. The accent is on the sort of organ-fueled lounge funk familiar to fans of such Beasties classics as "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication." And it's a great bash.

-- F.S.

OLAV LARSEN & THE ALABAMA RODEO STARS: "Love's Come to Town" (Hyena) - Three stars

Beyond being an African-Norwegian doing country-rock, Larsen is a wonderfully transcendental songwriter in the Gram Parsons tradition. "Love's Come to Town" is loaded with singular expressions of parched, wistful hope, all beautifully arranged in the sort of twangy orchestrations Nashville forgot how to do long ago. Only problem is, the reedy-sounding Larsen doesn't have much of a singing voice. Some would say that was true of Parsons, too, but we're talking a whole different effect.

-- Bob Strauss

SINEAD O'CONNOR: "Theology" (Koch) - Three stars

Uncompromising and provocative for the 20 years she's been making snarling, nakedly emotional music, O'Connor delved into traditional Gaelic and reggae covers on her previous two discs. Here she's back with a double dose of largely originals, bringing acoustic and band versions of the same songs. As the title suggests, religion is the theme, and the disc titled the "Dublin Sessions," in which O'Connor is alone with a guitar, works the best. Most notable are the tracks "Jeremiah (Something Beautiful)," a gorgeous, sad piece, and the equally effective "If You Had a Vineyard," while both versions of Curtis Mayfield's "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" are simply wonderful.

-- F.S.

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(1) no caption (Kelly Clarkson)

(2 -- 6) no caption (CD covers)