In Brief

The musical nostalgia and spiritual quests of three previous, sometimes dazzling WP albums have been darkened here as Karl Wallinger copes with his mother’s death. The effect is to give his richly crafted (as usual) Beatles-isms--with such touches as the swingin’ baroque pop of “Vanity Fair” and Swingle Singers-like vocal canon that closes “Rolling Off a Log”--the haunted melancholy of a lost boy looking for comfort. World Party will be at the El Rey Theatre tonight.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

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