With his 2015 release Silver Season, Israel Nash presented a sprawling, swirling trip through the folkrock cosmos—an experience that demanded low lights and wafting incense. On his fifth full-length release, though, he’s tightened his songwriting and beefed up his arrangements for a far more hereand-now rock record. The daydream effect has subsided, making room for his most focused set yet: a 10-track mix of intensely catchy desert blues tunes and truly ascendant California-style pop-rock cuts (plus two extended intros). Lifted begins with “Rolling On,” featuring what may be Nash’s most memorable, hummable hook ever: “I had better keep rolling on,” crowed over an angel choir of background vocals and loose-strummed acoustic guitar. It’s straightforward, but glowing and spiritual— Lifted summed up in a few moments. The song shows Nash creating majestic hippie-folk but unafraid to shoot for pop-music heights. “The Widow” plays out like the center of a Venn diagram between psychedelic-era Beatles and Crosby, Stills & Nash, with a horn section marching along skyward harmonies, quivering organs and warm, heartland guitars. Nash sings sublimely about “running through a wildflower haze… drifting stuck in my Hill Country ways.” “SpiritFalls” is the album’s most rocking selection, with a crunchy, bluesy riff setting the stage for Nash’s “visions of a road, deep in the desert my fires unfold/ Their spirits wander.” Pedal-steel tones and heavenly piano paint that road with color, balancing the singer’s psychedelic meanderings with his undeniable knack for melody. No Israel Nash fan will turn away from Lifted unsatisfied—and it’s accessible enough to turn some new listeners on to his infectious brand of open-sky, folk-rock. Everybody wins.