Lucinda Williams
Album: Blessed
Label: Mercury
Tracks: 12
Website: www.lucindawilliams.com/

I will be the first to admit that I have never quite made up my mind about Lucinda Williams. Her live shows veer towards rock and her CDs are quite erratic, perhaps her best to date remains Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Yet the quality of this CD and the stunning song, Blue, have left me constantly hoping that another CD could equal them. You know, I think Blessed may just do that. It may even surpass them.

Don't be deceived by the opening track Buttercup. Whilst this song feels fun, the rest of the CD feels like an emotional journey. It covers the themes of love, loss, redemption as only Lucinda Williams can do, but the stand out track for me is the song (which I won't name, I'll let it just find you when you listen, as it did me) about the dying soldier, as he imagines his life back home. It can leave you in no doubt of Williams' skill as a songwriter, which I sometimes feel gets a little overlooked. There is a rawness and vulnerability in this song, which somehow seems to spill into the rest of the album. There is some great production and great musicianship, which all add to the overall quality of this CD.

I am so glad that Lucinda Williams is back to producing material of her earlier quality; long may it continue!

Helen Mitchell