Red Dirt Girl
Consider this Emmylou Harris's emancipation proclamation--an album that confirms that 1995's adventurously atmosphericWrecking Ballwasn't an aberration, but a preview of more radical changes to come. Long the godmother of alternative-country's traditionalist wing, Harris here writes songs withLuscious Jackson's Jill Cunniff, sings a duet withDave Matthews("My Antonia"), and recruitsBruce SpringsteenandPatti Scialfato provide harmonies on the album's most compelling ballad ("Tragedy"). The production by Malcolm Burn applies sonic treatments of drum machines, shimmering guitars, and echoed vocals to a song cycle by Harris that is largely original and deeply personal, filled with dream imagery and evocations of a spiritual quest. While material such as "Michaelangelo" and "Bang the Drum Slowly" suffers from an arty ponderousness, it's doubtful that Harris has ever recorded an album that means more to her than this one.--Don McLeese