Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile (Columbia Records)

Northwest singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile’s last album, “The Story,” was recorded in about two weeks. But her latest album, due in stores Oct. 6, took more than a year to create.

“Give Up the Ghost” (Columbia Records), another fine collection of soul-searching folk-rock from Carlile, includes collaborations with musical hero Elton John (”Caroline”), producer Rick Rubin (who reshaped the late Johnny Cash’s career), keyboardist Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and singer-guitarist Amy Ray (Indigo Girls). It’s worth noting that Smith shows his kinder, gentler side on such songs as “I Will” and “Touching the Ground.”

The songs “Dreams,” “Caroline” (a duet with John) and “Oh Dear” will likely get the most attention, but my favorite is the tender, melancholy “Dying Day.”

More so than her previous two albums, “Give Up the Ghost” explores the depths of her being. The album that alternates between highly produced, complex songs to simple, stripped-down rockers (one song features a 30-piece orchestra). Like previous albums, it’s a blend of folk, rock, pop and alt-country. The songwriting was handled by Carlile and band members and brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth. Carlile wrote about the new album in a recent blog post.

Certainly one of the most personal and painful songs on the album is “That Year,” about a friend who committed suicide when Carlile and her friend were teens.

John reportedly did the piano part in “Caroline” in one take and coached Carlile on her music. Read more about Carlile’s connection to John in my interview with Carlile in 2007.

Carlile’s current tour features a concert Oct. 24 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

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