This CD cover image released by Sound Age Entertainment shows ‘Theory of Reggaetivity’, a release by Assassin AKA Assassin. (AP)

In a transition from dancehall, the artist turns his multi-talented hand to releasing a completely reggae album called “Theory of Reggaetivity.” With guest appearances from Chronixx and Australian singer Elesia Iimura, Assassin — born Jeffrey Campbell — takes on topics such as achievement, struggle and love with his new album.

Setting fire from the top, the performer examines the birthmarks of reggae with a modern twist on the title track. It’s followed by “What is Reggae” and “Reggae Origin,” where he simply questions, “Where did it all start? Where did it begin?”

Delivering lyrical precision, Assassin brings humor and energy with “Mix Up,” praises the Motherland in fine style with “Africa” and sends a message of perseverance on “Stronger.”

Assassin, whose rugged vocals recently cut through Kanye West’s “I’m In It” and Kendrick Lamar’s “The Blacker the Berry,” shows his softer side on the well-written “Day In Day Out,” offering a sweet melody that uplifts before taking it back to basics with “Country Bus.”

The Violent Femmes often sound like their old selves on “We Can Do Anything”, their ninth studio album and first since 2000.

The Violent Femmes often sound like their old selves on “We Can Do Anything,” their ninth studio album and first since 2000.

Singer-guitarist Gordon Gano and acoustic bass guitarist Brian Ritchie got back together in 2013 for a Coachella performance of their first album on the 30th anniversary of its release and later toured with Barenaked Ladies.

All that came after a long feud fueled by Gano’s decision to allow the use of “Blister In the Sun” — whose acoustic-and-snare riff draws the same reaction from some people as “Stairway to Heaven” does from guitar store employees — in a fast food commercial.

While the Milwaukee group, now with a rotating roster of backing musicians, has habitually alternated aggression and vulnerability, “What You Really Mean” is a real standout, a tender tune about commitment written by Gano’s sister, Cynthia Gayneau.

Classic

“Holy Ghost” could have fit on the band’s classic debut and sounds like Lou Reed dropped by to sing lead, while “Big Car” is related to “Travelling Solves Everything” by the transportation theme but may derail listeners with its horror ending.

Not everything gels. The accordion-driven “I Could Be Anything” is goofy and “Issues” may be too overwrought even for those with an “it’s complicated” relationship status.

Despite three co-writes, rare for Gano, and songs rescued after the long hiatus from decades-old demo cassettes, “We Can Do Anything” lasts just 31 minutes. It’s quality time and hopefully the Femmes will be back with another, even better encore.

Nada Surf, “You Know Who You Are” (Barsuk Records)

Expanded to a full-time quartet, New York’s Nada Surf continues to refine its glorious power pop on “You Know Who You Are.”

There’s a tinge of melancholy across much of the album, albeit with an optimistic if guarded outlook. The glass may be half full, but it’s a thimble, not a tankard — “One day, I’ll love somebody else, one day, I’ll be good to myself,” Matthew Caws sings on “Believe You’re Mine.”

The bandleader co-wrote two songs with former Semisonic frontman and Grammy-winning songwriter Dan Wilson — “Rushing” and album closer “Victory’s Yours” — whose vocals contribute to the latter’s dreamy, Trip Shakespearean feel.

“Friend Hospital” shows Caws in an affecting mode, combining resignation and pained insight — “So much better that we’re not together, ‘cause I will not lose you, or be the blues to you.”

“Out of the Dark” celebrates minor achievements, its Tom Petty jingle-jangle and horn section elevating the can-do spirit, while on “Animal” Caws’ smooth, multi-tracked vocals slip into a vaguely Dylan-like diction.

The title track and “New Bird” pick up the pace and the rest of the band — lead guitarist Doug Gillard now fully on board beside bass player Daniel Lorca and drummer Ira Elliot — is as congenial as ever.

Pronounced nearly finished a year ago, the album underwent a series of recalculations until Nada Surf discovered a flowing route to like-minded listeners. You know who you are.

Bjork has revealed that she is working on a new album but, after last year’s tortured heartache album “Vulnicura,” this one will be happier.

The Icelandic experimental pop icon said she is working again with Alejandro Ghersi, the Venezuelan DJ better known as Arca, who helped create the beats layered behind the lush strings on “Vulnicura.”

The 2015 album, which came after a four-year gap by Bjork, delved into her emotional journey as she split with her longtime partner, New York artist Matthew Barney.

“It’s really early on, and I don’t even know if I should say (it), but I have got three songs down with Alejandro,” Bjork told the latest issue of the fashion and culture magazine AnOther.

“The last album, we sort of call it ‘hell’ — it was like divorce! So we are doing paradise now. Utopia. We have done hell, we have earned some points,” she said.

Bjork said that she continuously wrote songs subconsciously while experiencing nature.

“I go to my cabin, go for a walk in the mountains, and after 20 minutes you just start humming and then the melodies kind of pop out, you know?” she said.

Experiencing

Bjork released “Vulnicura” ahead of schedule after a leak and initially refused to stream it, saying it did not feel right to distribute such a personal album for free.

She initially supported the album with intimate shows at Carnegie Hall and other New York venues, and she was featured in a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.

Bjork eventually took the “Vulnicura” tour to Europe but abruptly ended it, saying that performances took too much of an emotional toll.

Despite critical acclaim for “Vulnicura,” it was passed over for a Grammy Award, with Bjork tied for fourth among artists with the most nominations without ever winning.

Jeff Buckley put out only one album before his death in 1997 but his legend has since steadily grown thanks to posthumous releases. The latest, “You and I,” comes out Friday and shows Buckley in an element where he excelled — covers.

On “Grace,” his 1994 album that became a cult classic, the young American singer showed the world a unique voice, romantic and introspective with a hint of soul. He died at age 30 when he drowned swimming in the Mississippi River as he was recording his second album, which emerged a year afterward.

“You and I” takes Buckley’s story back to February 1993 when the artist, who had been playing small clubs in New York’s East Village with mixed success, had just signed a contract with Columbia Records.

Buckley, who was also a gifted guitarist capable of mastering various styles, had not yet settled on the musical direction that would define his fateful first album.

“Jeff was such a talented person, with such a deep understanding of music history, all kinds of music — classical, Broadway, rock, R&B, punk, blues,” said Steve Berkowitz, who took Buckley under his wing at Columbia.

“Clearly when I met him, he was extremely talented and had to figure out what it was he was going to do,” he told AFP.

“You only get to make your first record once. For every one, two or three things he decided, he had to eliminate five, six or seven other things,” he said.

To help Buckley find his path, Columbia arranged for the young artist to spend several days in the New York studio of Steve Addabbo, who notably had worked with Suzanne Vega.

Buckley came to the studio with his guitar as well as a harmonium, which eventually helped create the distinctive melancholic sound on “Grace.”

The artist worked in the studio on his compositions but, as was customary at the clubs, he also played plenty of covers.

The singer — whose estranged father, Tim Buckley, built his own cult following through experimental rock — was known to be able to hold his own for hours playing covers.

Jeff Buckley became famous in part for his version on “Grace” of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” which the young singer interpreted with a poignant sorrow, a contrast to the original’s more straightforward narrative style.

Nearly all of “You and I” comes from previously unknown recordings of his covers during the three days in Addabbo’s studio, although two tracks were cut during a session later that year.

Some of the covers appeared in live form at New York’s now defunct Sin-e club on an album Columbia released in 2003, including Buckley’s takes on Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman,” Gospel singer Jevetta Steel’s “Calling You” and “Night Flight” by Led Zeppelin.

New covers on “You and I” include Buckley’s version of The Smiths’ brooding ballad “I Know It’s Over,” as well as the classic British band’s more jangly “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side.”

If Buckley is best remembered for the expressiveness of his ballads, his voice also works wonders on more charged songs including “Everyday People” by funk legends Sly and the Family Stone, and the blues standard “Poor Boy Long Way From Home.”

“You and I” also features an original song, “Dream of You and I,” and Buckley’s first recording of his best-known track, “Grace.”

Berkowitz prefers not to discuss whether “You and I” will be the last Buckley album.

“Of course there is more material. The decision now is to make this, and it’s beautiful,” he said.

“It’s funny — here come 10 songs and the question is what about the rest? That was a fantastic dinner, when do we eat again?” (Agencies)

By Bianca Roch