Though Eilen Jewell got her start as a purveyor of straightforward Americana, her mournful third album, Sea of Fever, marks a shift in her sound. Sultry, jazzy vocals that invoke the spirit of Ella Fitzgerald, surf-meets-spaghetti-Western guitar and doleful lyrics about cocaine and poverty make for a more nuanced, modern sound than the throwback roots of 2005’s Boundary Country and 2007’s Letters from Sinners and Strangers. The songs on Sea of Fever smack of tempestuous love affairs and dark times, but even when Jewell’s voice drips with anguish, there’s a slow-burning passion simmering beneath the surface. With Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers. SARA BRICKNER

Wed., June 9, 9 p.m., 2010