The songs on Come Back, the enchanting fourth album by Emma Frank, don’t show many outward jazz affinities; they reside in the literate folk-rockish realm you’d associate with someone like Laura Marling, or the Beck of Morning Phase. But it’s meaningful that the album prominently features pianist Aaron Parks, whose “Lilac” is among the album’s few covers (with new lyrics). You can also hear the erudite restraint in their rapport — backed by bassist Zack Lober and drummer Tommy Crane — on the opening track, “I Thought.” (Video directed by artist Ayo Tsalithaba.)
Frank is a soft-spoken but surefooted vocalist originally from the Boston area; she now resides in Brooklyn after a stretch in Montreal, the home of her current label, Justin Time. (Perhaps you remember her from an episode of The Checkout this time last year.) She’s now on tour in Europe, but will be in Cambridge, Mass. on Oct. 6 and Burlington, Vt. on Oct. 8. For more information, visit her website.