Much fuss has already been made over the fact that Watershed is k.d. lang’s first album since her revered 2004 covers collection Hymns from the 49th Parallel and her first album of new material in eight years. Hymns reminded us just how magnificent lang’s voice is, but her songwriting skills have never been as widely celebrated. While she could probably sing just about any song and make it sound textured and interesting, it is hard for Watershed’s originals to stand up to the glory of the Neil Young and Leonard Cohen songs that made Hymns so strong.

Still, while Watershed’s songs aren’t groundbreaking or memorable, lang does set a new standard for quality adult contemporary (AC) music. Avoiding most of the negatives associated with the genre, AC is actually a positive term for lang: her music is modern and grown-up. Some of the songs have shades of the country twang that she grew up on, but for the most part, they meld together into one hypnotic piece — it’s all so mellow that it doesn’t matter where the songs begin or end, as long as that big gorgeous voice is there to guide the way. Which, of course, is also Watershed’s weak point: there’s no “Constant Craving,” no knockout song to anchor that voice. In the end, lang has made an excellent album of background music, but not necessarily a new classic to add to her catalogue.