It might have taken Cat Power six years to release a new album of original material, but it isn’t as if she’s been slacking.

On “Sun,” the singer-songwriter born Chan Marshall (in Atlanta) plays nearly every instrument and constructed these tunes from deep emotions.

Somehow, she’s managed to craft a record that is full of slick production tricks – synthesizers, drum loops, hazy harmonies – yet it usually sounds minimalistic.

The combination of her ethereal voice and lilting drum loops buoy “Cherokee” and “3,6,9,” a perfect Sunday afternoon song – many of these are, actually – except that her lyrics aren’t meant for lounging, but for listening.

On “Ruin,” which sounds like an iTunes commercial as done by Sinead O’Connor, Power suggests we take a look inward and stop whining about our perceived insufficiencies in life. She also injects some bracing reality into “Manhattan,” which, despite its gentle piano plinks in the background, reminds us that “people come and people go, all the friends that we used to know ain’t coming back.”

The album’s centerpiece is the 11-minute “Nothin’ But Time,” which is intriguing in its concept and mostly succeeds with its swirling concoction of synthesizers, piano and trippy melodies. But when Iggy Pop shows up halfway through for some deep-throated harmonies and “Time” begins a fade in-and-out routine, what initially began as a pure pop song starts to sound like a gimmick, which seems a bit beneath Power’s talents.

Also available Tuesday:

• Melissa Etheridge, “4th Street Feeling,” a typically gutsy collection of roots-rockers and acoustic ballads from the raspy singer. It’s her 12th studio album, named for a street in her Kansas hometown.

• Matchbox Twenty, “North,” the first release from the mega-selling band in a decade. They’re easy to hate, but their songs aren’t. Just try listening to first single “She’s So Mean,” and then try not hearing it in your head the rest of the day. That’s the Rob Thomas effect.

• Mark Knopfler, “Privateering,” a two-CD, 20-song set of originals from the former Dire Straits frontman, whose distinctive voice still sounds wonderfully worn.

• Bob Mould, “Silver Age,” the latest from the reliable rocker who will always be associated with Hüsker Dü.

• Smash Mouth, “Magic,” for the dozen or so fans who might care that the band behind such ‘90s earworms as “Walkin’ on the Sun” and “All Star” have released their first album in six years. It includes a cover of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).”

• Dave Stewart, “The Ringmaster General,” the latest solo effort from the male half of Eurythmics, featuring guest shots from Joss Stone and Alison Krauss.

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