A Few Small Repairs (1996)

Shawn Colvin's first new album in four years — A Few Small Repairs, a song cycle about her own failed marriage — could have been a sobfest. Instead, it's a declaration of independence, from the austere resignation of ''Wichita Skyline'' to the acidic jeering of ''Get Out of This House.'' Full of wisdom and ravishing melodies, Repairs is a tour de force that needs no fixing. A