Tift Merritt bringing latest sounds to sold-out show with Amos Lee

For example, she infused her 2004 release, “Tambourine,” with a Memphis-soul vibe that recalled Dusty Springfield, and she cites Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Townes Van Zandt, Joni Mitchell, Michelle Shocked, Elvis Costello, Carole King and Aretha Franklin among her influences.

Her ’08 effort, “Another Country” (she wrote all the songs while staying in Paris) was a more ruminative country-folk effort, punctuated by some seductive, mid-tempo roots-pop. Another winner is Merritt's “Live from Austin, TX” — a 2007 DVD of her performance on the TV show “Austin City Limits” — that showcases her charisma, dynamic stage presence and considerable sex appeal.

And then there’s her voice: Tift Merritt was blessed with silky pipes that, by turns, can evoke such gifted songbirds as Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Laura Cantrell or even Dolly Parton.

Which brings us to her upcoming disc, “See You on the Moon,” due for June release. With “Moon,” Merritt — who shares a bill with Amos Lee at The Ark for a sold-out-show on Thursday — delivers a record that in some ways departs from the country-rock sound that has earned Merritt her rep. (She grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, so that’s a style that came naturally to her.)

Indeed, the disc offers up some sonic textures and arrangements that may surprise some Merritt fans who’ve been on board from the beginning. Some tracks use percussive strings, some are driven by thumping-but-muffled drums, and others evoke the swampy atmospherics of a Daniel Lanois-produced album. The guitars are generally taut and economical. And, there’s a sonic spaciousness about the disc that at times almost sounds experimental.

“Yeah, we wanted this record to be very direct, and not overly-labored,” says Merritt. “We didn’t want it to be over-produced — we wanted to have that open space.

“Sometimes, as a writer, you get to a point where you start feeling angst about what you write, and that can be a waste of energy. So I wanted to write from a ‘real’ place inside of me,” says Merritt during a recent phone interview.

Merritt says that several of the songs on this album came to her “almost whole,” which is not her usual experience.

“Generally, when it comes to writing songs, I’m a reviser,” says Merritt, who’s lived in New York City for the last 3 years. “I’m not one who can usually just knock something off quickly in one sitting and have it be a good song — it usually ends up sounding like a Hallmark card or something. I’m not the kind of writer who can just write for 30 minutes. For me, I usually need to really get absorbed in it, like, for 24 hours at a stretch.

“But for some reason, I was just in a place this time where a lot of these songs happened very quickly — and, later, I thought, ‘Damn, what happened there?,” she adds, with a laugh.

The disc kicks off with “Mixtape,” wherein Merritt subtly sings about the “introverted pleasures” of making such a tape. Sonically, it was crafted with Bill Withers’ spare arrangements in mind, and is notable for its use of strings to punctuate the rhythm, along with hand claps and a strummy electric guitar. Listen to Tift Merritt “Mixtape” (MP3).

“Six More Days of Rain” uses a mid-tempo, foursquare groove and sinewy electric guitar to underscore Merritt’s pensive but affirmative musings about what she sees as the beauty of human resilience. “All the Reasons We Don’t Have to Fight” is a brisk, uptempo rocker, and one of a few tracks that display “the Lucinda influence” in Merritt’s work, both in terms of her writing and the overall sound.

“Yeah, the first time I heard Lucinda, I was just knocked out, and I’ve spent a lot of time listening to her records,” says Merritt.

One moving song is “Feel of the World,” which employs a languorous tempo and a sonic spaciousness befitting the topic. The song is about her grandmother’s recent death, but the perspective is that of Merritt’s grandfather, who died in the ‘70s, and whom Merritt never knew.

“I always felt a real curiosity about him, and a strong connection to him, even though I never knew him,” says Merritt. “My grandma was dying during the time I was writing the song, and I didn’t realize until I was finished that this wasn’t my song, it’s his song — he’s inviting her to the next level, to the next place, where he’s waiting for her.”

Although Merritt is 35, she draws most of her influence and inspiration from the aforementioned “older generation” of artists. “I’m definitely drawn to singers and songwriters who are talking about their lives in a first-person kind of way — and that takes you back to the ‘60s and ‘70s,” she says.

“I also like music from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and current music, of course, but I try not to get too caught up in devouring all the new stuff that comes along. I think it’s important to construct a little bit of a bubble to keep from being overloaded by everything that’s out there right now.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

Tift Merritt performing live in Colorado last year: