This week's releases reviewed

ALISON KRAUSS Essential Alison Krauss Decca ***

What, you may well wonder, is going on with Alison Krauss? This is another greatest hits package, following on from the Collection of 2007, the same year that the "newgrass" queen partnered with the unlikely figure of Robert Plant to deliver the Grammy-winning roots gem Raising Sand. Retreads of previously released tracks are generally either contract-fulfilling or holding operations during fallow periods, but a second such collection in such a short space of time is pretty strange. Certainly, Raising Sandmarked a major change of direction, both musical and image-wise. And, though Krauss denied at the time that her days with Union Station were numbered, the fact that they haven't released a new album since 2004 appears to tell its own story. For those who would like to sample Krauss's pure voice in a mainly newgrass setting, this is a good place to start, with tracks such as a live version of Baby Now That I've Found You, The Lucky Oneand When You Say Nothing at All. www.alisonkrauss.com JOE BREEN 

THE DEEP DARK WOODS Winter Hours Black Hen Music ****

The winter is cold, very cold, in Canada's northern regions. It is a time to huddle close for warmth, to slow down to the demands of the forbidding temperatures. As their name implies, The Deep Dark Woods aren't exactly a pop band with sunshine in their eyes. The weary laments of singer and songwriter Ryan Boldt dominate the second album by this four-piece from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but their moody, observant songs convey an intensity and warmth generated by close harmonies and slow, thoughtful guitar solos, set against a backdrop of pedal steel and organ. Neil Young is a clear influence, and there are echoes also of The Band and, more recently, My Morning Jacket. They slip out of mode but twice (the country quickstep of Nancyand a rocker, Two-Time Loser), so it's mostly well-measured, slow-burning wintry gems, such as the title track, The Gallows and a folk-rock version of the traditional When First Into This Country. www.balchenmusic.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Sun Never Shines, Nancy, The Birds on the Bridge