Once known primarily as John Mellencamp’s able violinist, Lisa Germano has, over the course of five previous albums, established herself as a unique and challenging artists in her own right. Her twisted saga of meandering melancholy musings continues on Lullaby for the Liquid Pig, yet another album built on the foundation of Germano’s exquisite if often minimalist piano chordings and her wispy whisper of a voice — a voice perfectly suited to the moody poetics and subtle melodies that weave their way through her songwriting. The title track alludes to drug-induced ramblings. "I need a fix/A little one/Then it’s over/Then I’m done," she intones, as the song spirals slowly downward. "Dream Glasses Off" perpetuates her signature sullenness with lyrics like "Before when I opened the door/Let the happiness in/Closed again." Complementing Germano’s never-changing mood is her meticulous production, which is a study in understated beauty and sadness that bolsters her stream-of-consciousness abstractions.

(Lisa Germano opens for Clem Snide next Friday, June 27 at the Paradise; call 617-562-8800.)