After three twangy records in which she portrayed a road-weary troubadour, singer-songwriter Jess Klein looks inward on her new album. When she started writing songs for the sexy and pensive City Garden, Klein figured it was about time she put away her Everywoman voice and got a little selfish. “I really wanted to take a moral inventory of my own methods of dealing with emotions and the world,” she says. “I was looking around me and seeing a lot of fear and anger. Those things were overwhelming me, and I wanted to look everything in the face and just deal with it.”

As adept at belting soul as she is kicking around with alt-twangers, Klein was a Boston busker with a fervent local following before she moved to New York City a couple of years ago. She says she needed a change of scenery and a new jolt of inspiration. The songs on City Garden — like the scorching “Real Live Love” and the chirpy “World Could End” — reveal her feelings about her new home as well as her newfound peace of mind. “I feel much better now,” says Klein. “These songs were really healing for me.”
Sat., Oct. 28, 8 p.m.

This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2006.