Emmylou Harris's new Nonesuch release, All I Intended to Be, is due out June 10. Crawdaddy!'s Steve Matteo calls "Harris's recent albums, including this new one, some of the best music she has ever made ... [H]er voice remains the heart of her music. The aching compassion with which she sings reveals a voice as real as any in music today." Matteo concludes with high praise for "this superb recording": "It would appear that Harris is simply incapable of making a bad album."
Emmylou Harris's forthcoming Nonesuch release, All I Intended to Be, is due out June 10 and available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. Crawdaddy!'s Steve Matteo begins his review of the new album by looking back on her storied career, calling her Nonesuch releases Red Dirt Girl, Stumble Into Grace, and All the Roadrunning (with Mark Knopfler) among "her most personal and stylistically varied albums" that showcase her profound talents as a songwriter and her "even more compelling" ability to pair her own compositions with "well-chosen covers."
All I Intended to Be finds Emmylou once again deftly pairing her own self-penned tunes and collaborations with expertly chosen works by fellow songwriters. Writes Matteo:
It is Harris's choice of material that truly sets her apart from so many other artists, as is the case again on this new album ... Harris has an uncanny knack for performing songs both familiar and unfamiliar. She also mixes in her own songs seamlessly, making Harris's recent albums, including this new one, some of the best music she has ever made.
He calls the three Emmylou-penned tracks on the album "as good as anything she has ever written" and the two songs she co-wrote with longtime friends and collaborators Kate and Anna McGarrigle both "musically adventurous" and "quite different from anything she has done before." Matteo points to Emmylou's take on Tracy Chapman's "All That You Have Is Your Soul" as an example of a song she "somehow makes all her own," marveling at her ability "to make these disparate songs sound like they are hers."
As much as song choice has contributed to the success of the new album, it is ultimately Emmylou's own instrument, says the Crawdaddy! review, that once again sets her apart:
[T]here's a richness and fullness of sound to the music, without being overly produced, that makes it so riveting. In the end, though, her voice remains the heart of her music. The aching compassion with which she sings reveals a voice as real as any in music today.
Matteo concludes with high praise for "this superb recording":
It's striking how Harris can both harken back to old-time music and also cover newer songs, or write new songs that sound so urgently of today. It would appear that Harris is simply incapable of making a bad album.
To read the complete review, visit crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com.
