Kat Edmonson sings about the light and dark in the night

This cover image released by Spinnerette Records shows “Old Fashioned Gal” by Kat Edmonson. This cover image released by Spinnerette Records shows “Old Fashioned Gal” by Kat Edmonson. Photo: Associated Press Photo: Associated Press Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Kat Edmonson sings about the light and dark in the night 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

In a voice that serves as the perfect accompaniment to moonlight, Kat Edmonson opens her new album sing-speaking the line, “Though your days are gray with indecision ... .” After a measured introduction, her vocal takes flight.

That set up and melodic delivery in “Sparkle and Shine” sound like classic Frank Loesser, the great mid-century songwriter who poured dozens of tunes into the Great American Songbook, including “Luck Be a Lady” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Which is fitting because over four albums, Edmonson has proven both an interpreter of classic American song, as well as a contributor. When she sings, “How about a game of checkers?” she makes clear her new album title “Old Fashioned Gal” isn’t a pose. The Houston native grew up enamored with entertainment made in an era where film and song were wholly intertwined.

So when on “I’d Be a Fool,” she sings, “How do you put the past away?” Edmonson is digging into deep emotional soil, while also expressing her affinity for a golden era of American music. Sometimes Edmonson’s affinity for the past confuses even her.

“Canoe” is a sprightly new song that takes a nighttime boat ride with a courting couple and explores its effects on the “local residents,” which include fireflies, mosquitoes and crickets.

“I was just planning to stay at home and watch an old movie,” she says. “As I often do. And I went into the kitchen to get something and found myself humming this song. I realized it wasn’t someone else’s song. It was mine. I just wanted to watch the movie, but ended up writing this song. It was a playful exercise that worked. It just came from my life. When I walk, I talk to the birds. If I get an insect on my clothes, I’ll say something to it and let it go safely. I’m just aware of my surroundings. And I give these objects personalities.”

On the flip side of “Canoe” is “Goodbye Bruce,” which underscores how Edmonson’s fourth album subtly shifts shape from hopeful to melancholy and back to hopeful again, but with some degree of reticence. “Goodbye Bruce” is a simple farewell to a friend, just piano and some “la la” and “da da” typ vocalese, followed by the heartfelt recitation title. The minimalist presentation is lovely and haunting.

The next song is lit by sunshine but tempered by longing. And the album closes with a plucky uke-and-voice tune “Not My Time,” which includes what sounds like a reference to Edmonson’s blunt dismissal from “American Idol” in 2002.

Edmonson was a square peg even then, with an inimitable warble that would’ve been a natural fit in the days of vaudeville. But Edmonson’s aspirations were more intricate than simply riding a reality show to renown. And starting with her first album “Take to the Sky” nine years ago, she’s exhibited a unique and intriguing phrasing that suggests deep study of the classic songs she sings. She’s also proven quite versatile: The new “I’d Be a Fool” has old country and western underpinnings. She simply hasn’t been content just reheating the classics.

More Information Kat Edmonson When: 8 p.m. Sunday Where: Heights Theater, 339 W. 19th Details: $26, theheightstheater.com When: 2 p.m. Sunday Where: Cactus Music, 2110 Portsmouth Details: free; cactusmusictx.com

Edmonson has written her best set of originals, which balance old and new with an expert’s touch. She also strikes a complicated balance between joy and sadness. Edmonson’s voice is capable of great lift, but “A Voice” exhibits an ache that gets inside your rib cage. In that voice you can hear the rickety assurance of somebody who has made four records that have charted great growth in a singer and songwriter, who has appeared in a Woody Allen film, and dueted with Lyle Lovett, but who at 34 has spent much of her life being told to change how she makes her music.

With “Old Fashioned Gal” she sounds content to let listeners come to her moonlight or just move along.

“I’ve reached points where I wasn’t sure I wanted anybody to listen,” she says. “This thing that takes me to my most joyful place, also has vulnerability and pain. But it’s led me to this acceptance of myself, through this music. If it sounds vulnerable, it’s because I was. And if it sounds confident, that’s because I’ve become defiant and realized I just have to be me.”

andrew.dansby@chron.com