Lucinda Williams - West

She excavates emotion with the skill of a seasoned coal miner. Like actress Helen Mirren, Williams digs into subjects like love, loss and redemption with wisdom and a mature sexiness. As usual, her latest has lots of yearning, especially on songs such as “Fancy Funeral” and “Mama You Sweet,” about her mother’s death. There’s plenty of heartache, too, on bluesy country numbers like “Learning How to Live.” But Williams is at her best on “Come On,” an acerbic kiss-off to a former lover that she delivers with rapier-like wit.