Good Souls Better Angels

Lucinda Williams is incapable of sounding anything less than 100-percent engaged and sincere. Whatever she has to say, she clearly means it, and that more than anything else is the thread that runs through 2020's Good Souls Better Angels, her fourth album since she launched her own record label and took full control of her process of recording and releasing music. Cut mostly live in the studio with her road band – Stuart Mathis on guitar, David Sutton on bass, and Butch Norton on drums – these 12 songs play like a long stream-of consciousness journey, with Williams writing in blues structures that repeat certain lines like a mantra while her band either sneak up on the music like a ghost or howl with elemental, bluesy skronk (the raw, gritty tone of Mathis' guitar matches Williams' vocals for sheer ferocity on numbers like "Down Past the Bottom," "Bone of Contention," and "Wakin' Up" like he's roots rock's answer to Ron Asheton).

One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her generation, Lucinda Williams was also a fiercely independent artist who had to fight for the creative freedom that allowed her to do her best work. The daughter of a well-respected poet, Williams brought a literacy and sense of detail to her work that was unpretentious but powerfully evocative and emotional, which led to a number of major artists covering her tunes while she was still establishing herself as a performer. As a vocalist, Williams used the rough edges of her instrument to her advantage, allowing the grit of her voice to heighten the authenticity of her performance.

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