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Laura Aidanblaise’s second album, Get Thee to the World, is a frustrating mix of acoustic innovation and droning insistence. Frustrating, because there is definitely some good stuff here; almost every song has something to invite you in. But Aidanblaise, who wrote all the songs on the CD, seems so set upon pouring salt in the wound that on most cuts it just isn’t fun to stick around through the chorus.

The opening track, Blood Love, teases with an offbeat syncopation and charcoal-warm vocals, but as the song builds, she turns up the harsher tones until her voice is about as comforting as a brass water bottle. Charlie’s Guns cranks up the keening even more, until it bores through the skull with a dogged chorus of “This is another body count / for Charlie’s growing bank account.” Yeah, the bastards are out to get us. But this isn’t the soundtrack I want playing while they do.

There are two songs, however, where Aidanblaise’s brazen angst works well musically, inviting the listener to come back for more. That Old Road has a soft, striding beat that beckons to the masses like an urban war chant of poignant defiance: “Don’t go down that old road / there’s a man standing there / and he’ll kill you if he knows your life is worth more than his daughters so fair / ... Oh you maiden, you rebel / you can’t pick your battles ....” The next track, Under the Water, laces a distant, high-noon, surf guitar dirge with a voice like a midnight seashell: “Still under the water / she stands, stones in her pocket ....”

Unfortunately, right after these gems, Aidanblaise goes right back to milking the plaintive, unrelenting, blood-letting spirals that channel the worst of Tori Amos, with precious few offerings for Pele. There’s definitely stuff worth listening to on this album. How much, is up to you.