Lucinda Williams, Blessed (Lost Highway Records, 2011)

Blessed begins with a good-luck-goodbye-you're-on your-own song, "Buttercup," and ends with it-can-never-be-better-than-this bliss, "Kiss like Your Kiss." In between there is anguish aplenty. No less than three of the first six songs are about death, in one case, "Seeing Black," suicide. In another, "Soldier's Song," Williams gives us a stereoscopic view of a family, scenes of a husband/father at war and a mother and child at home, until the father dies and the family is no more. The bleakness of "Soldier's Song" provides a segue to the title track, "Blessed." Here battered women, neglected children, the poor and homeless, among others, are our betters; it is they who bless us.

It is news to no one that Williams is among our top songwriters. Of course, writing is one thing; singing is another. And, as in the case of Bob Dylan, kudos for the former don't always carry over to the latter. Williams' singing, like Dylan's, may be an acquired taste, according to some online comments. However, I think Williams' aching, soulful voice is the perfect vehicle for the songs on Blessed.