Rachael Yamagata got some supernatural inspiration for the follow-up to her 2004 debut. "I was up writing at 4 a.m., and I was convinced that I heard a ghost playing the trumpet," says the singer-songwriter, who cut the album — produced by Bright Eyes multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis — in a 1920s-era mansion outside of Woodstock, New York. "I started tracing a line of it on the piano, and that become the intro to 'Over and Over.' " The stripped-down track's wistful vibe permeates the first half of Yamagata's two-disc set, which is split between dusty, often-macabre ballads — "a death in the family colored some songs," she says — and edgy, hand-clapping rockers about booty calls ("Sidedish Friend") and asshole dudes ("Don't"). "I didn't censor anything," says Yamagata, who let rip with confessional lyrics — "don't fuck me in front of me," she begs on "Don't." "When I wrote that," she recalls, "I thought, 'I can name a lot of women who are gonna get that right off the bat.' "

"Elephants"

Exclusive video of Rachael Yamagata recording her new album: Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Listen to "Elephants" in full: