Lucinda WilliamsWorld Without Tears

Lowdown, dirty, smoky. All thirteen songs cut live on the floor with the band in one room, no isolation, so the place itself swells into the sound. 'Fruits of My Labor' floats on tremolo-picked guitar and that unmistakable drawl; 'Those Three Days' captures a brief affair with cutting precision. Recorded inside a 1920s LA mansion, and you can feel the old walls breathing. Few records sound this raw and this right.