This excellent solo record by My Morning Jacket guitarist Carl Broemel is a rare thing: a woodsy little indie-folk record that refuses to brood. On All Birds Say, Broemel spreads cheer with every pluck of his acoustic guitar, singing short, endearingly sweet songs about love, nature, drinking wine and other worthy topics. Broemel writes hooks that sneak up on you through simple singsong melodies. His lyrics sound like hippie beatitudes: "Everybody's on the way/Whether or not they know it. . . . /There is space in the garden." Even his come-ons are beatific. "Let's go home and be friends," he chirps in "Heaven Knows." And then he bursts into a whistling solo.

“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.