"Didn't It Feel Kinder," which surfaced July 22, is Ray's third solo album and her first using an outside producer. Greg Griffith (The Butchies, Le Tigre) manned the soundboard and encouraged the singer to incorporate a variety of sounds, as well as tap into influences as diverse as Al Green, The Pretenders, OutKast and Violent Femmes.

"I just thought I wouldn't break new ground unless someone was making me do it," Ray, who self-produced her first two sets, said in a statement.

Though she explores new musical territory on the album, Ray sticks to the topics that have permeated her two-decade career: community, politics, gender, sexuality, religion, war, the environment and love.

"What ties the record together for me is this human yearning to be understood and the yearning to become empathetic with other people--how to love each other and be kind even when we're brutally angry," she explained.

"Didn't It Feel Kinder" features musicians including Griffith and longtime Ray collaborators Melissa York and Kaia Wilson. Guests include Three5Human guitarist Tomi Martin, singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile and indie band Arizona. Songs from the set are streaming at Ray's MySpace page.

Ray wrote her new solo material while on tour with the Indigo Girls. She and her IG partner, Emily Saliers, have been out supporting their 10th studio album, "Despite Our Differences," which surfaced in 2006 and peaked at No. 44 on The Billboard 200.