Sarah Harmer (2004)

While it doesn't top her priceless 2000 debut, You Were Here, the fluid, moody Names comes respectably close. With a voice as silvery and luminous as a full moon, Harmer constructs daring metaphors to convey emotional perplexities. The mellowed-out Canadian rocker is a ''good little clock'' in ''Pendulums'' and a windblown sailor in the punchy ''Almost.'' Meanwhile, songs like the rueful ''Tether'' display Harmer's gift for setting human drama to fresh melodies.