Anyone familiar with Lucinda Williams seven previous albums\nwould be all-too-aware of her musics themes of loss, loneliness and\ndespair. On West she once again sings about a relationship gone\nsour, but she also more poignantly sings about the death of her\nmother. As Roseanne Cash did on her beautiful Black\nCadillac, Lucinda found a very productive creative outlet in\n_West_ for expressing her feelings on the loss of a parent. As\nshe says The songs deal with a chapter in my lifeits probably been\nthe most prolific time of my life as a writer. Id been through so\nmany changestheres a lot of pain and struggling, but in the end it\nlooks towards the future. The album was produced by Hal Willner,\nwho also appears, as do Bill Frisell and former Jayhawk, Gary\nLouis. For all her personal pain and suffering, Williams has\ncreated another beautiful-sad album here. The least we can do is\nrejoice in its glory. Dave Clarke is from Readings\nCarlton.

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