Patty Griffin - Children Running Through

Once again, Patty Griffin slays us with her well-cooked blend of blues, r&b, and American folk melodies. Griffin's career has played out with one home run after another, and Children Running Through is no exception. After years of great albums, one has to wonder, how is it possible for one woman to keep knocking out more great music? Backing vocals by Emmylou Harris on the parable "Trapeze" doesn't hurt, either.

With the first quiet doublebass ramp-up to "You'll Remember," Patty Griffin sets the mood. Not unlike her previous efforts, Children Running Through is a collection of deeply personal, narrative songs, and "You'll Remember," the album's opening song, is an appropriate introduction to the intimate nature of the ensuing record.

Next up there are a string of parables and professions, from the Dylanesque tunes "Getting Ready" and "No Bad News," to the lovely heartbreaking narratives of "Trapeze" and "I Don't Ever Give Up."

While Griffin nails r&b numbers like "Stay on the Ride," her greatest strength are her ballads. "Heavenly Day" is possibly the loveliest love song I've heard in some time. She sings, at the top of her well-crafted voice, "I've got nothing much to say, only I'm glad to be here with you on this heavenly day."

The strongest song on the record, however, is "Up To the Mountain (MLK Song)," which Solomon Burke covered on his fabulous Nashville record last year. Hearing Griffin do it, however, is just remarkable. Her sweet Texan voice takes the moment and the message to greater heights—heights that, in fact, even Patty Griffin hasn't reached before.