Music review: Lucinda Williams, Down where the Spirit meets the Bone

Lucinda Williams delivers vocals raw, with bite and menace, reinforcing her claim as the queen of alternative country music.

Lucinda Williams
Down where the Spirit meets the Bone

Lucinda Williams walks a fine line vocally between swagger and vulnerability, an approach that is clearly evident on this, her 14th studio album. Down where the Spirit meets the Bone, then, is an apt title.

And it's her first ever double album, the result of a rich vein of song-writing form, which has seen her contribute 18 new originals.

The exceptions are an epic 10-minute version of JJ Cale's Magnolia, and Compassion, the opening track, which provides the album's title.

Compassion is actually a poem, written by her famous father, Miller Williams, which featured in President Bill Clinton's second inauguration.

Lucinda Williams delivers vocals raw, with bite and menace, reinforcing her claim as the queen of alternative country music. At times, this means a full-on approach, as in the tracks Protection and West Memphis; but on other songs there's more light and shade, with vulnerability outweighing the swagger. No getting away from the core of the sound on Where the Spirit Meets the Bone though, it's Lucinda Williams heartfelt, down to earth lyrics delivered with grit and passion.

Hard to single out a favourite track, but, if push comes to shove, I reckon Cold Day in Hell does the trick, alongside her Dad's poem Compassion.