Little Honey (Lost Highway, 2008)

Lucinda Williams displays her diversity as she smoothly navigates through rock, blues and country on her latest. Williams rocks hard on the opening Real Love, Honey Bee and the closing cover of AC/DC's It's A Long Way To The Top . The blues are in force on the ballads Tears of Joy and Heaven Blues.

Some of the highlights are the twangy duet with Elvis Costello Jailhouse Tears, and the country blues of Well Well Well and Circles and X's.

Among the more interesting tunes are Little Rock Star, which examines the self destructive behavior of some performers who rise to fame ("With all your talent/ So much to gain/ To toss it away like that/ Would be such a shame"), and Rarity, the tale of a talented but under appreciated singer ("No hits on the radio/No one knows who you are/No big deal with a video/So you're never gonna be a star").

With strong performances and brilliant compositions, Lucinda Williams' ninth studio release augments her standing as one of the best singer/songwriters around.