Listening to the new Lucinda Williams, out today. It *might* be her best work since "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road". I've only played it a couple times through, but I'm greatly enjoying it so far.

Don Was produced it and he did a great job giving it a raw, real, gritty feel - suiting her voice and the material perfectly. Don Was has learned how to produce since he glossed over Dylan's "Under a Red Sky" album. Here he takes it in the other direction; stark and intimate. Lu's voice has never sounded better.

"Born to be Loved" - - unbelievable. Listen to the organ pulsing barely audible in the background and then swirling up at key moments. Beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring song.

First single "Buttercup" is the opening track, and a snarling bitter broken-hearted rock song.

"Seeing Black" is about the late Vic Chesnutt's suicide.

I wished the 2nd half of the album wasn't all mellow songs... i like Lucinda when she rocks it. But the material here is so strong, and the performance and production so good I can't complain too much.

Been listening almost nonstop to Radiohead lately so this is a nice change. Seeing Lucinda very soon for the first time live, and i'm very psyched.

anybody picked this up yet? The deluxe edition download features an extra set of very raw demos.

nice review from USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2011-03-01-listen01_ST_N.htm

Another good review here, from the AP:

Lucinda Williams, "Blessed"

Lucinda Williams built her reputation in the 1990s with a series of stunning albums that detailed, with tender insight, a turbulent life filled with reckless men and a rambling search for meaning in the heart of modern America.

Now happily married and in her 50s, Williams has sometimes struggled to bring the same passion and clarity to a life more settled. With 2008's uneven "Little Honey," she sang of personal fulfillment in terms both spiritual and sexual, while ramping up the blues-rock component of her ragged, roots-based sound.

The title of her new album , "Blessed," may suggest more songs of bliss. However, Williams now looks outside her own heart and experiences — and proves she can be just as moving when singing about others instead of herself.

(article continues)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110228/ap_en_re/us_music_review_lucinda_williams_3

[Edited 3/1/11 17:47pm]