Central to Lisa Germano's impressive, independently released debut album, On the Way Down From the Moon Palace, is her notation that the Moon Palace is a place where women live through men's light. But while Germano is best known for fiddling behind John Mellencamp, on her own album she stands in no man's shadow.

Playing everything save one bass part and three Kenny Aronoff drum tracks, Germano airs doubts and deliberations in a manner that is self-absorbed but never self-indulgent. "When you never talk, I can only guess," she mutters in "Guessing Game," and she makes it clear that this is not the first time a guy has left her in the dark. Yet depressing as this may sound, her music is anything but. "Guessing Game," for instance, moves from the artlessly enchanting talk-sing of the verse into a lilting chorus illuminated by country fiddle, acoustic guitar and mandolin. "Dig My Own Grave" matches lyrics like "You said you weren't that kind of man/Oh it makes me feel sick" with gripping electric-guitar blues. And so goes the rest of the disc, alternating expressions of longing with poignant instrumental interludes, weaving a weird, delightfully changing tapestry.

Like Jane Siberry, Germano proffers music that seems to compose itself spontaneously, that discovers itself – and reveals the artist – as it's being played, moving in directions the listener can't foresee but readily follows. And near the end, in "The Other One," when she sings "Hold me, stay close, touch me, don't leave," it's not meek pleading by a girl in a doll house but a declaration of vulnerability by an independent woman. It's a suitable sentiment for a self-assured first outing on which Germano steps down from the Moon Palace to bask in her own light.

On the Way Down From the Moon Palace is available from Major Bill, P.O. Box 30087, Indianapolis, IN 46230. (RS 617)

JIM BESSMAN