In the past, Washintgon D.C. troubadour Meredith Bragg’s voice has drawn comparisons to Ben Gibbard, or Elliott Smith. And this new solo record makes good on ‘em (see “New York” for your Gibbard fix, the fragility of “Ballad Of An Opportunist” for Elliott), but it’s an unchecked name that gets channeled and filtered on album opening track “My Absent Will.” And though it’s a disservice to Bragg’s ultimately singular, fragile guitar-and-voiced record to simply play name the influence, Sufjan’s all over this thing, from the bah-da-dums to the gently strummed tune’s breathy tenor. Silver Sonya, named after the studio in which it was recorded (belongong to Beauty Pill’s Chad Clark and Aloha’s T.J. Lipple), is a concept album of sorts: written after Meredith’s world travels with his lady love and adhering to two simple rules. He says:

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