Musicians like Grant-Lee Phillips, who can write, play, sing and engineer (almost) everything themselves, actually worked harder during the solo hours of the pandemic. "I found respite in the process when I could do little else," he has said, adding that it also left him "to reflect on what this time feels like" and to write songs that "tap into the feelings that we share that are trapped beneath our skin—and figure out how we expel those feelings by talking about them." In actuality, Phillips fleshed out these tunes with the long distance, send-me-a-digital-file help of bassist Jennifer Condos and drummer Jay Bellerose. The result is another group of well-crafted modern folk tunes that like all of Phillips' solo work (as well as that of his '90s band Grant Lee Buffalo), are carried by his voice and innate gift for writing melodic hooks. His still elegant and evocative voice, which naturally falls in a higher register and can be breathy, excels at communicating passion or pain. Few singers can write and arrange for their own voice with the taste and sensitivity that Phillips displays in the title track where he goes ethereal in the choruses. He's also always been an internalizer of history and current events, a modus that drives a number of tunes. The troubles at the U.S. southern border inspired this collection's most ardent vocal performance in "My Eyes Have Seen," where he laments in emotive high notes that he's witnessed, "foil blankets strewn beneath the bridge" and expresses his hope that, "Footsteps between asylum and the cage/ The history books may hide this shameful page." Another highlight is "Rats in a Barrel," his response to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol in which he admits "I'm done with mercy now, all tapped out" for folks who "Took my marching orders from that man up there/ Hear them pleading how 'I got caught up.'" For perspective he adds, "Old Lincoln saw it all go down/ Almost looked like the first time 'round." Also skilled at creating a rhythm within album length collections, he saves the best for the love song closer "All By Heart," which has an irresistible chorus hook, a grandiose tempo roll and another full-hearted vocal performance—"What we know by heart/ Every scar/ Every lash delivered/ All by heart." All That You Can Dream is another quiet triumph from a master of modern folk-pop. © Robert Baird/Qobuz