Americans are such snobs about Canadian musicians; the really great ones we practically claim as our own. This collection of covers is k.d. lang’s gentle reminder that some of rock’s most treasured songwriters belong to the north country. Every track is stellar: lang breathes dreamy detachment into Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush,” takes the wispiness out of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” wrings homespun philosophy out of Jane Siberry’s “Love Is Everything” and swoops dazzlingly into and out of notes on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The arrangements combine somber orchestrations with acoustic guitar and thrumming upright bass, but lang’s voice is the prize instrument; like a modern Sinatra, she transcends even the finest work the authors offer.

DOWNLOAD THESE “After the Gold Rush,” “Bird on a Wire,” “Love Is Everything”