Smokey and the monkeys are back on fine form

From an introspective album by the Arctic Monkeys to some fine Willie Nelson, we review a mixed bag this week.

Humbug by Arctic Monkeys: After three years that netted two albums, a Mercury Prize and dozens of headlines calling the British group rock's next great hope, the Arctic Monkeys were due for an offbeat, introspective third set.

Humbug is a moodier affair than its predecessors, but the top-notch songwriting and simmering instrumentation allow them to experiment with more difficult styles without losing an ounce of charm. Potion Approaching straddles a sinister two-step guitar line before turning into a ghostly waltz, while Cornerstone offers a story of regret over melancholic strumming.

Alex Turner has evolved as a frontman, displaying the same shiny vocal hooks as in the past, but with even more raw nerve. The band has captivated the post-Britpop scene since its 2006 debut and Humbug justifies the hype.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun by Smokey Robinson: Robinson has gotten heated in recent comments regarding the media's coverage of Michael Jackson's death, but on the follow-up to his 2006 standards set, Timeless Love, he couldn't be more relaxed. Time Flies... is a mellow vintage-soul disc that finds the Motown maestro in fine voice as he flexes his signature falsetto over supple, unhurried live-band arrangements long on tasty licks and laid-back grooves.

Nine of the 10 tracks are new, including Please Don't Take Your Love, featuring a guitar solo from Carlos Santana, and You're the One for Me, the sultry Joss Stone duet premiered on American Idol in March. And the 10th? A hushed piano-bar rendition of Norah Jones' Don't Know Why. Who knew that tune could get any smoother?

Breakthrough by Colbie Caillat: Like Caillat's 2007 debut Coco, her follow-up is warm and inviting.

On the finger-snapping You Got Me, Caillat's 24-year-old heart skips a beat when she finds a boy taking her hand and flashing a crooked smile. "It's everything that I've been dreaming of," she sighs, as though puppy love is all she's ever known. The album's lead single, Falling for You and most other tracks follow suit, meaning Breakthrough never quite lives up to its title. But the songs that diverge from the formula even slightly, like the Greg Wells-produced Fearless, offer delightful relief, and a taste of what could be if she were to dig deeper.

American Classic by Willie Nelson: More than 30 years after the release of Nelson's acclaimed 1978 standards album Stardust, the artist cracks open the Great American Songbook once more.

American Classic – Nelson's finest album since 1998's Teatro – contains 12 timeless melodies. Backed by modern jazz greats like Joe Sample (piano) and Christian McBride (bass), the country legend delivers elegant takes on gems as Bart Howard's Fly Me to the Moon and Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin'. Nelson steps out with two of jazz's leading ladies, duetting with Norah Jones on Frank Loesser's Baby It's Cold Outside and with Diana Krall on a silky version of If I Had You. But the real treat is a jazzy revision of Always on My Mind (which won Nelson a Grammy Award in 1982) – it has never sounded more heartbreaking than here.

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