The latest releases reviewed

EMMYLOU HARRIS
All I Intended to Be
Nonesuch Records
****
The shadow of mortality hangs heavy over Emmylou Harris's first album in five years. Just past her 61st birthday, the remarkable singer-songwriter strikes another new chapter in her exceptional career by returning to the direction of Brian Ahern, the man who produced her first 11 albums and became her second husband. In the process Harris has delivered an album of measured reflection, often tinged with bittersweet beauty, particularly her collaborations with the McGarrigle Sisters, Anna and Kate (mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright) as well as duets with Dolly Parton, Buddy Miller and Vince Gill. Harris writes or co-writes about half the 13 tracks, but such is the charm of her intense, willowy vocals that she makes songs her own, such as Merle Haggard's Kern Riverand Patty Griffin's Moon Song. Death is a frequent theme, not least on her own Not Enough, a typically shimmering vocal tribute to a lover ("Life is long and life is tough, but when you love someone life is not long enough").  www.emmylouharris.com
JOE BREEN
Download tracks: Not Enough, Sailing Around the Room, Beyond the Great Divide

JOHN HIATT
Same Old Man
New West
****
Oh, God, I'm a sucker for John Hiatt. And lest I harboured any doubts, his new stripped-back album kicks off with the kind of loose-limbed, colour-rich biographical sketch of old bluesmen that tells you everything about them and him: wry, respectful and full of the kind of Americana spirit that makes Hiatt's albums a must for any self-respecting music fan. Never mind his Dylan leanings ( This Wheel's on Fireobviously inspired On With You). I rest my case on songs such as the open-heart surgery of Love You Again, his scratchy, sandpaper tones filled with the honesty and beauty of a grateful second chance, or the welling intensity of Hurt My Baby. Hiatt can be a little obvious, as on the overly simplistic What Love Can Do, but by and large he is a trooper worth enlisting in your fight against the banal and the bumptious.  www.johnhiatt.com
JOE BREEN
Download tracks: Old Days, Love You Again