All Thing Will Unwind begins with a very pop sediment. On the track “We Added It Up” the lyrics pose an act of pairing opposites: Shara Worden sings, “If I was up, you were down/ You where there, I was here/ A grand puppeteer stuck it all together.” It’s the eternal sentiment that opposites attract. The song strums along as Worden’s floating vocals are joined in a coral arrangement of voices declaring, “Love binds the world.” A generous notion coupled with “Confusion with the making of all that sound.” Like the idea of opposites coming together, there is a little give and a little take.

The balancing of conflicting emotions is something that echoes throughout the album. The music mirrors Worden’s recent life changes as the optimism found in new motherhood is set against the plight of urban decay she found in relocating to Detroit. Shara herself, in the line “Oh how gorgeous to struggle now,” best describes the end result: the latest from My Brightest Diamond is an elegant record that continues to push Shara Worden as a growing artistic force.

While All Things Will Unwind arrives as only the third My Brightest Diamond album, the woman who is My Brightest Diamond has been a headlining player on her fair share of projects. The most high profile came as the fairy queen on The Decemberists epic rock opera The Hazards of Love, but she has also been a major contributor on albums from neo-classical acts Clogs and Sarah Kirkland Snider. Worden and her libretto style has become a standard for grandiose symphonic music — and this outing continues the trend.

Chamber ensemble yMusic was recruited to assist in crafting the score, filling the album with beautiful arrangements and utilizing a hefty list of instruments. Compositions like “She Does Not Brave The War” are stark and bare, while “Escape Routes” is gleefully lush. My Brightest Diamond also continues to be a fun project. The lyrics of “There’s a Rat” play with expectations and repercussions over a wave of wind instruments and a plucky banjo. “High Low Middle” uses the chamber band in an almost juke joint dance number.

The biggest statement on the album comes with “Be Brave.” A thumping drum paces Worden’s contemplations as, “a bird in water, a whale on sand.” A being facing change whispers to “be brave or be undone.” The full power of her vocal resonates like a sermon when the full band kicks in. When quiet, it’s delicate. When loud, it’s forceful. Faced with the reality where you have to take the good with the bad, Shara Worden and yMusic have crafted the soundtrack to a beautiful struggle.