Breaking into the discerning gallery of Austin's notable piano men, Drew Smith has carved a well-deserved place for himself and his brand of poppy, retro rock. His newest release, Drew Smith's Lonely Choir (Viro Records) is a saucy collection of rock songs buoyed by bluesy guitars, elegant strings, and truly soulful vocals that takes from many parts of the spectrum to create his unique, nuanced sound.

Golden album opener "Nilsson Sings Newman" is more than a crisp homage; it solidifies the promise of the truly gifted artisan to do what he or she always should: carry on. Alight with the energy that it takes to grasp the peak of any given day and make it yours while musing on the impacts fewer albums have on us these days, this tune not only chronicles the process that leads to that blissful listening point, it makes you want to recreate it again and again. Impelling artists to pick up the baton and whittle both stylistic and sonic elements of pop and rock into new formations is exactly what it should do, so kudos to Smith et al in song one.

In a pretty rumination on a lovely day spent in a great city, "NYC Song" takes moments for their full worth sans frustration or heartache, since it's easy to enter an adventure alive, fresh-faced, and in love—with everything. Although those moments are ephemeral, we can still be thankful for the teeny golden crumbs from those days that will always be with us. The piano is the delicate backbone in "My Dear Olivia" as it converges with the limber string arrangements to carry this terse tune through, stretching into listeners' hearts and breaking it off piece by piece.

The dynamism of Smith's work manifests throughout the album for sure, since it can shift from bluesy rock to more classic rock between songs without disrupting the listener's natural state. Though the melody in "Are You Lonely" has more poppy leanings, it quickly eases into bluesy guitar work that conjures thoughts of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, while "Silver Pictures" brings flashes of Bob Seeger into the forebrain with its classic folky feel, but comes back to nest in the rock realm.

Smith doesn't have to probe too deep to bring his selected truths to the fore. Leaning on the soulful pitch of his vocals and the varied, truly artistic collaborations throughout the album, closing with a somber homage to memories and gratitude in "Home" underscores his ability to draw from even the farthest corners of a narrative and bundle them together neatly for our pleasure.

Recommended tracks: "Nilsson Sings Newman", "NYC Song", "Something So Much", "My Dear Olivia"