Lifeline

Although there's only one new original on Iris DeMent's first release in eight years, the music throughout ranks with the most personal she has made. DeMent's quavering vocals invest this collection of traditional spirituals with an unwavering conviction. "This is my story," she sings on "Blessed Assurance," written more than 130 years ago. "This is my song." In her liner notes, the Arkansas-raised artist explains how these were the first songs she remembers hearing, and that this music has always provided comfort during hard times, a comfort that isn't necessarily (or at least not narrowly) religious. On "Sweet Hour of Prayer" and "God Walks the Dark Hills," DeMent accompanies herself on stately solo piano, and the emotion is as pure as the arrangement is unadorned. On other tracks, DeMent and co-producer Jim Rooney enlist homespun support from kindred spirits such as guitarists Mark Howard and Bo Ramsey and a call-and-response chorus of harmonizers including Stuart Duncan. The self-penned composition, "He Reached Down," is a folkish recasting of the Biblical "Good Samaritan" parable. Even listeners who don't share the faith expressed in these songs will have trouble resisting the unflinching intimacy of the performances. --Don McLeese
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