The CD wrapper says “File Under: Alternative Rock,” but despite the melancholy Elliott Smith cover (the previously unreleased “Taking a Fall”), Portland Cello Project’s third and most ambitious album transcends category. Although sporting only one actual “classical” work (Gabriel Fauré’s famous “Elegy”), Thousand Words feels more classical than the band’s previous efforts, mostly due to its poignant centerpiece: Decemberist Rachel Blumberg’s gorgeous tripartite suite “The Dream” (dedicated to the memory of her mother, Portland cello teacher Naomi Blumberg), which expresses its ambition not through sophisticated compositional techniques, but rather in employing memorable, related tunes to express distinct moods. The elegiac feel also permeates Gideon Freudmann’s dirge, “Denmark,” but although this album is PCP’s darkest (the result of “genuine catharsis,” says founder and arranger Douglas Jenkins, who contributes a plaintive composition, “1516”), it’s hardly a bummer-fest. The punchy arrangement of the video-game theme from Halo, the Rihanna cover (“Hard,” with NYC beatboxer Adam Matta replacing Jeezy); Skip vonKuske’s delicious mashup of Paul Desmond’s Brubeck Quartet classic “Take Five” with Lalo Schifrin’s Mission: Impossible theme; and the disc’s open-road highlight, “Broken Crowns,” by Ashia Grzesik, who’s supplied some fine music to various stages around town. All of these add excitement to the ever-shifting ensemble’s first all-instrumental album. PCP has always been more than the gimmick that attracts initial attention (“Look, they’re doing Britney—on cellos!”), with Jenkins’ inventive arrangements and their genuine affection for both pop and classical influences. Like the saying goes, a picture—in this case, the cover shot of the band in front of the Fremont Bridge—is worth a Thousand Words. Portland Cello Project is beautifully bridging the worlds of classical and pop music. BRETT CAMPBELL.