Latest CD release reviewed

SHAWN COLVIN
These Four Walls Nonesuch ****

Shawn Colvin concludes her first album for five years with a skeleton cover of the 1960s Bee Gees ballad, Words. It is oddly fitting because her doleful singing of this classic piece of cheap emotion is an apt full-stop to an album that is principally concerned with intense reflection on romance and the pursuit of happiness. It is not always autobiographical, but Colvin lives these songs, 10 of which she co-wrote with longtime producer and friend John Leventhal (husband of Rosanne Cash). Her sometimes distant voice carries mystery and attraction in equal measure, a perfect partner for Leventhal's sophisticated country/folk/pop settings and melodies that occasionally border on AOR. Turning 50 this year and being a new mother has made Colvin more thoughtful, but she still radiates a richness few of her contemporaries can match. www.shawncolvin.com

CROOKED STILL
Shaken by a Low Sound Signature Records ****

This novel North American stringband are currently winging their way around this island with a musical agenda that is as enjoyable as it is eclectic. The core of the band is double bass, cello and banjo, with Aoife O'Donovan's beguiling voice surfing over the complex and complementary rhythms and sounds. Although Rushad Eggleston's cello and Gregory Liszt's banjo (last seen here as a member of Springsteen's Seeger Sessions band) strike up a brilliant rapport on these folk, blues and beyond tunes, it is the Irish-American's voice - cool, strikingly flexible and beautifully rounded - that makes the greatest impression. The band dip into blues, gospel, bluegrass, country and parts in between but she never loses the plot. Listen to her sultry, bluesy vocal on the classic Come On In My Kitchen, or her swinging take on the gospel Ain't No Grave for evidence of a blossoming talent. www.signaturesounds.com  Joe Breen