Sometimes, a collection of music falls into your lap and you make a decision to really open your ears to it. Though by no means a k.d. Lang die-hard, I did just that with Sing it Loud.

“Perfect Word,” is the track from this album that you’ve probably already heard on the radio. It was this song that set the tone for me — about fighting, struggling, and finally, reluctantly admitting that the fighting itself has reached a point of no return. “I don’t need to win this fight/I just wanna make it right.”

The album is a passionate and romantic one. But it’s also an album of contradictions. Throughout, Lang moves from a helpless, powerless tone to a strong and celebratory one.

It opens with the booming, almost marching, “I Confess,” a song with a swinging, sultry sound. An immensely personal song, one where you get the impression she’s singing directly to someone, not just about someone. And then, what follows, a song called “mistake,” and the contradictions begin. The idea of making mistakes and repenting is a theme that occurs throughout.

In another number, “A Sleep with No Dreaming,” Lang sings: “100,000 reasons why I should walk away, 100,000 more make me stay.” The lyrics and tone offer a constant push and pull, but it’s all so smooth that you barely realize the roller coaster ride you’re on. Because, whether she’s mournful or elated, the songs are lyrically beautiful. “You’re the only dream I understand,” she sings, and though the song is about losing someone you love, it retains that giddy feeling of first finding someone truly special.

A great soundtrack for evenings outside under the stars. It finishes before you want it to.