Lucinda Williams' 'Blessed' is a blessing
In this undated photo released by Lost Highway Records, musician Lucinda Williams is shown. Her latest album, "Blessed," will be released on March 1, 2011. Credit: AP Photo
Somehow, Lucinda Williams just keeps getting better.
She was crowned "America's Best Songwriter" by Time magazine in 2001, when her striking album "Essence" showed no letdown from her 1998 alt-country masterpiece "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." She hasn't looked back since.
On "Blessed" (Lost Highway), Williams disproves the myth that angst and upset are necessary for great art. Her first album since marrying her manager and producer Tom Overby is as potent and poetic as anything else in her impressive catalog.
"Kiss Like Your Kiss" is a spare, beautiful love song, while the devotion in "Sweet Love" is almost palpable.
Love isn't the only thing on Williams' mind for "Blessed," though it does color her approach to pretty much everything here. The powerful "Soldier's Song" is written as an exchange of letters between a soldier on the front line of war and his wife on the homefront. The fiery "Seeing Black," featuring raucous, epic guitar solos from Elvis Costello, was inspired by the suicide of singer-songwriter Vic Chestnutt. The bluesy "Convince Me" is practically a prayer, as she chants, "Please, please convince me" in response to increasingly dire circumstances.
For the track title of "Blessed," Williams literally counts her blessings. It's a testament to her ever-sharpening skill as a songwriter that she can make that list as compelling as any list of grievances. Maybe it's a testament to the strength of her happiness, as well.
"Blessed"
GRADE A
BOTTOM LINE Happiness suits the one-time queen of alt-country tearjerkers
