Instruments are tuned to singer's emotional key

There's an earthy side and an ethereal side to My Brightest Diamond's latest work.

Singer-songwriter Shara Worden says listeners can sort out the themes of her "A Thousand Shark's Teeth" album by paying attention to instrumental choices.

Terrestrial tracks feature instruments made of wood, such as the marimba, bassoon and clarinet.

Strings, horns and choirs accent the otherworldly songs.

Worden, who will perform under her My Brightest Diamond moniker Nov. 6 at the Royal Theater in Danville, says her second album reveals a bigger picture than her 2006 debut, "Bring Me the Workhorse."

"I think more of my personality is represented on 'Shark's Teeth,' " the darling of the orchestral pop scene says during a phone interview. "I think it's a much more varied album with different colors and different moods."

Worden worked on both recordings simultaneously. But "Brightest Diamond," a song obviously linked to Worden's stage name, landed on "Shark's Teeth" rather than "Workhorse."

According to Worden, a New York City resident with a degree in opera studies from the University of North Texas, "Brightest Diamond" is based on loss and renewal. "Everybody here's wearing long faces but you," she sings.

"Someone very close to me had died," Worden says. "That was a huge impact in my life. At the same time, I was meeting all these wonderful string players and studying string arranging. I wanted something to signify a new beginning and a new period."

Worden declines to disclose details of the departed, but she cites German visual artist Anselm Kiefer as a guiding influence for "A Thousand Shark's Teeth." Kiefer's work often addresses the human desire to ascend to the heavens.

"He has these star charts, these constellations and graphs," she says. "Yet his work is very organic. There are seeds and dirt and metal in his paintings."

Within the lyrics of a song titled "If I Were Queen," Worden depicts a scenario in which neighbors make breakfast runs together. This isn't a lofty desire for someone placed in a position of royalty, but significance is gained when the song's other principal is out of reach.

"When someone does pass, you start to question all these things you thought you understood," she says. Worden promises that her appearance at the Royal, where a string trio will accompany her, won't be a downer. One song will even incorporate a puppet show.

Her classical training and highbrow interests aside, Worden says she's a fan of current Madonna album "Hard Candy" as well as the work of Justin Timberlake and Mary J. Blige.

"I like singers," says Worden, who served as a memorable supporting act when Sufjan Stevens, a labelmate on Asthmatic Kitty Records, played a 2006 show at the Murat Egyptian Room.

"My tendency in pop music is always toward the vocalist side of things."

My Brightest Diamond

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 6.

Where: Royal Theater, 59 S. Washington St., Danville.

Tickets: $18. For more information, call (317) 696-5279 or visit www.royaltheaterdanville.com