Musical complexity is just one of the reasons Dayna Manning's Folkyo is not just a very fine folk-pop album, but an accomplishment. The music in every song is a constantly shifting combination of instruments, set up in a way that encourages the listener to roam through each arrangement and to appreciate how seemingly disparate instruments and harmonies combine to be an engaging whole. This aspect of Manning's musicianship is on display in most of the songs on the album, including "I Always Want to Be With You," with its mandolin and violin, as well as "Gloria," in its ambient mixture of the acoustic and synthetic. Even the relatively pared-down "Pale Moon" has delicious banjo and cello undertones that enhance the song's wistfulness.

Layered compositions aren't the only reason I'm currently struggling to avoid the use of superlatives, however. There's also Manning's voice, which developed from the folksy nasality of Volume 1 through the more adult feel of Shades to the by-God loveliness of Folkyo. She's also learned how to fashion her music to fit her voice. On Volume 1's "Under the Hill," she was buried under a heap of guitars; the song was simply inappropriate for her voice at the time. Folkyo's "In the Meantime," besides being probably the best all-around song on the disc, is a followup and improvement to "Under the Hill"'s approach, as Manning's voice now soars above the dense music, yet still doesn't overwhelm it.

Manning's lyrics are also in top form on Folkyo. I've listened to "Tears" for months now, and I'm still tickled by the phrase "you're the glue in my life; you hold me together, but you keep me in place." The fifth song on the album, "If Your Mind Changes," deals with the topic of romantic woe, but dresses it up with a countryish feel and references to living in the Great White North. And then there's "What's So Great About Her?," a fast-paced screed about society's (and men's) fixation on shallow female beauty. That's a theme that's had its share of attention, but Manning ups the ante by cutting loose with phrases like "I'm a cut above your silly ego-driven love" and then turning that assertion on its ear by spending the rest of the song trying to convince herself and us--in knowing futility--that it's true. I'd give a good amount of consideration to flying to Canada just to watch Manning stomp through that one.

But the final reason Folkyo is exceptional hasn't been touched by my pseudointellectual babbling. Simply put, the album is fun. And catchy: even the brief "Better Than" has a tune that surfaced in my mind days after I first heard it, and "I Always Want to Be With You" is the best sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-alone-in-the-car tune I've heard in years. It's a pleasure, and not a guilty one. And so is the rest of Folkyo.