It has been five years since singer-songwriter Poe's debut Hello startled the music world with its kinky refrain, "I wanna blow you... away." Poe's return to recording comes in the form of Haunted, an album inspired by tapes made by Poe's late father Tad Danielewski, an award winning documentary filmmaker. Haunted is meant to be a companion piece to Poe's brother Mark Danielewski's psychological thriller, House of Leaves. The book itself deals with a family who discovers that their house is growing bigger from the inside out. Going far beyond the normal idea of a concept album, Haunted becomes an open letter from Poe to her father.

Haunted is definitely a darker album than the light, airy pop of Hello. The album's opening track "Exploration B" sets up an eerie and ghostly theme with Poe's disembodied voice announcing her father's death over her mother's answering machine. Poe tries to connect with her mother once again on the track "Terrified Heart," her voice fragile and disconnected over the answering machine speaker. It is that attempt to connect with family that resonates through the album. Poe's late father and a little girl representing Poe's younger self carry on conversations as transitions between songs throughout the album. These conversations become a symbol of Poe's struggle with her father's memory.

Haunted is not completely about doom and gloom. Tracks such as the acoustic guitar driven "Walk the Walk," the powerful "Control," and the sexy, teasing "Not A Virgin" show Poe still has a gift for tricky lyrical hooks. These tracks echo the allure of Poe's previous songs "Angry Johnny" and "Trigger Happy Jack." These songs help to make Haunted musically diverse. "House of Leaves," one of the last tracks on Haunted, pulled me into a whirlwind of forgotten voices and eerie sounds. The track melts into "Amazed," a song filled with awe of her father's accomplishments and promises. "I'm amazed / when push come to shove / what I give to you," sings Poe of her father.

Two definite standout songs on Haunted are "Wild" and the closing track on the album "If You Were Here." "Wild" clocks in at nearly eight minutes and is an opus of heavy with guitars and intense beats. "If You Were Here" is as close as Poe comes to resolving her issues with her father's memory. It is a lyrical dialogue between Poe and her father: a loving farewell to her father. The song closes the album with a beautiful grace, disappearing quietly in an arrangement of strings.