Mike Doughty is making his case as a serious solo artist. Years after Soul Coughing, Doughty has come back fast and furious in 2011 and 2012, with the excellent studio release Yes and Also Yes, the humorous and tuneful acoustic live album The Question Jar Show, and this album, largely featuring covers performed with liberal interpretations. Doughty's version of Mark Kozelek's "Mistress" is touching and a feast for the ears, with piano ringing deep and vocals nailing the gorgeous melody with palpable emotion. "Sunshine" alludes to John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulders," but "Take Me Home, Country Roads" updates Denver's '70s hit with a modern groove while retaining the song's strong pathos. Cheap Trick's "Southern Girls" is transformed from a power-pop rock tune to a modestly reflective singer/songwriter number. Randy Newman's "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" is brought to life with Andrew "Scrap" Livingston's cello weaving around Doughty's electric piano and impressive vocal, in which he never oversings and lets the song come to him.