Even if you’re a solo artist, you never do it alone. And even if you have one-man band skills, once it’s time to take it on the road, you’ll need some help. So when Jack White decided to tour behind his first solo album, he assembled two crack bands to tour with him, an all-male ensemble, The Buzzards, and an all-female version he dubbed The Peacocks. Both bands were monstrous, musical Avengers as far assemblage of talent goes. One of the members, Maggie Björklund, the pedal steel player in The Peacocks, is a solo artist in her own right, as well as being featured on White’s latest, Lazaretto. She also knows a little something about putting good people around her, and it’s a skill she puts to good use on her second solo album, Shaken (Bloodshot Records).

Björklund has pulled together a crack band that includes Calexico’s John Convertino; Portishead’s touring bassist Jim Barr; utility cellist Barb Hunter, who played in a mishmash of projects from Bette Midler to the Afghan Whigs; and John Parish, best known for his work with PJ Harvey and who contributes guitars, electric bass, and production work. It’s an eclectic band, but it makes sense that you’d want a flexible group when your frontperson’s primary instrument is pedal steel. In a non-country context pedal steel is a tricky thing simply because it invokes that high lonesome sound. To be fair, that seems to be 90% of the reason of why it’s used. So it takes some doing to make sure that it doesn’t fall into those traps. Maybe it’s the fact that Björklund is from Sweden or maybe it’s just the people around her, but Shaken rarely, if ever, seems country. Instead, there’s a gothic elegance about the songs that at times gets a bit orchestral, at times a touch alt-rock, and sometimes folksy but never subsuming to the pedal steel cliche.

Surprisingly, the pedal steel isn’t front and center as one might expect. Björklund varies her sound by alternating between the instrument and acoustic and electric guitars. She has a nimble, fluid playing style that melds quite nicely with the atmospheric production. The closest comparison would be Lambchop, fitting because Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner stops in for a guest vocal on “Fro Fro Heart.” The variety of experiences of the backing band creates an interesting melting pot where the collaborators have just as strong a voice as Björklund. So if it’s time for Hunter’s cello to take the stoplight or for Parish’s timpani to have a moment, it doesn’t feel like an interruption. Shaken feels like the work of a band and not a collection of hired hands. It’s a testament to what can be done with a little help from your friends.