Emmylou Harris: Stumble into Grace

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * *)

We can expect any number of songwriters to pay tribute to the late Johnny Cash, but at the time Harris recorded this album, his wife June had gone before him. There will be fewer tributes to her, but here Harris, with guest singer Linda Ronstadt, offers the moving Strong Hand - "for June" and the rare relationship she and Johnny shared, which could make you believe true love was possible in this world. Lovely, and even more timely now.

Elsewhere Harris, now closing in on 60, consolidates the emotionally centred songwriting which has marked her recent albums.

With producer Malcolm Burns, plus a who's who of collaborators and colleagues (Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Julie and Buddy Miller, Jane Siberry, Gillian Welch), she offers a reflective album where love seems elusive (the yearning for an emotionally distant partner in Jupiter Rising and Little Bird) and also ponders the uncertainties of the future (Cup of Kindness).

Amid such philosophical concerns the jarring moment comes when Harris, whose voice possesses an eerie and angelic quality, grounds herself in the real world and addresses consumerism (Time in Babylon). But mostly this is melancholy and slightly morose material (Lost Unto This World for martyrs and victims) delivered by one for whom it seems loneliness has been a constant companion.

Label: Warners