When Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O was 27 she "crushed a lot". Unsure if she would ever fall in love again, she began to record a series of songs ("the soundtrack to what was an ever continuing love crusade"),and this, her first solo record, is an intimate rendering of that crusade. Her collaborative work has led up to this, particularly the delicately beautiful The Moon Song, written with Spike Jonze for his film Her and the soundtrack for Where the Wild Things Are. Her 15 "crush songs" are actually more like lo-fi vignettes. Rapt's creaking acoustic guitar anchors regretful thoughts over the nature of true love, and Native Korean Rock channels a forlorn 1960s girl group. Sunset Sun is a full exploration of the common theme, while Visits' percussive slant serves to remind us of the obsessive nature of the deepest crush. Crush Songs is a spare-sounding record; the vocals, at turns wistful and artfully raw, keeps the listener engaged, evolving a relationship deeper than many of those ill-fated romances. karenomusic.com

Download: Rapt, Native Korean Rock, Sunset Sun