Nashville albums with raunchy rock guitars usually belong to the knucklehead genre of bro-country; all pick-up trucks, beer and girls. Allison Moorer’s ninth album is the precise opposite, a measured reflection on marital break-up (to fellow muso Steve Earle) and the diagnosis of her son with autism. It’s a brave album, at times raw with anger – Tear Me Apart is a showdown song, Mama Let the Wolf In is about the challenge of motherhood – at others pensive, as on Blood, about the bonds of family. A cover of Creedence’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain ties neatly into the stoical, defiant mood. Classy.
