After a stretch as one half of the dark, combustible Civil Wars, followed by a synth-pop record, Joy Williams returns to her acoustic-country roots. The singer possesses a magic style: feminine and soft in all the right places, but never weak. It's also shadowed with a tinge of melancholy that makes the title song— which could be a TV-montage throwaway track in lesser hands—rich and layered with mystery. There's a theme at play here, as Williams, who recently split with her husband/longtime manager, grapples with loss ("When Does a Heart Move On") and gratitude ("All I Need"). There's also re-discovery on the surprisingly sexy "St. Cecilia" ("Won't you meet me at the Hotel St. Cecilia? / We'll be saints to sinners and back again"), with a slow burn steel guitar sure to make you blush. Williams isn't afraid to draw from the past, borrowing Rick Nelson mellowness for One and Only." She even calls on the sweet sounds of her own gospel beginnings for "The Trouble With Waiting," and adds hints of Civil Wars-style restless edge to "When Creation Was Young." © Qobuz