Michael Penn’s  Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea is a collection of never-heard-before alternate takes, brand new versions of old favorites, and best-of-the-best album cuts -- selections from all five of Michael Penn's albums, spanning the course of more than 15 years.

This CD is so much more than your typical "Best of..." with Penn himself hand-picking the tracks, as well as the order in which they appear on the CD.

It's worth buying solely for its revamped version of "Cupid's Got a Brand New Gun" with a completely different feel from the original (on Penn's debut album, March) featuring a bluesy piano, a freer vocal, and a driving chorus (horns and all!)

The CD also contains a beautiful new rendition of "Long Way Down" (Look What the Cat Drug In.) This song's lyrics expertly convey the melancholy resignation of staying in a relationship well past its expiration date ("...if I wear apathy's crown, don't call me Highness, it's a long way down") even though "I've got a feeling she's been sleeping with the whole wide world."

If Penn's delivery of that line doesn't touch your heart, you've never been in love (at least not with the wrong person!)