In Brief

* * * Carole King, “Love Makes the World,” Rockingale. The veteran singer-songwriter’s first studio collection in nearly 10 years (in stores Tuesday) evokes her signature clean, lush sound while being contemporary enough to remind us that big, romantic pop can express genuine feeling. Abetted by a diverse guest list--including breakbeat-house duo PopRox, Babyface, k.d. lang and Wynton Marsalis--she rarely settles for the generic emoting so many modern young singers fail to transcend. Her warm, inspiring vocals buoy such tunes as the title track and the buck-up-kid “You Can Do Anything.”

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.