Alison Krauss & Union Station: New Favorite

At 30, Alison Krauss has already spent half her life as arguably contemporary bluegrass' biggest name, selling millions even as she shook up audience expectations with slick forays into modern country and adult pop. Though Krauss periodically sheds her backing band to release emotive solo country albums like 1999's Forget About It, her best material continues to feature the outstanding players in Union Station, who return on New Favorite. The traditionalism of much of the group's past work—including that on the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, for which Union Station guitarist and singer Dan Tyminski provided all the George Clooney parts—is left mostly to the sidelines, however. With the exception of a breezy instrumental ("Choctaw Hayride") and an overlong bit of Tyminski cornpone ("The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn"), New Favorite is dominated by austere, contemporary-sounding compositions that only sound jarringly old-fashioned compared to the '80s-rock cheese that passes for today's country music. But, while Krauss and company may alienate a few purists, they know that purists were made to be alienated, and New Favorite was seems geared toward a huge crowd. It does just fine in that regard, passing the spotlight liberally (albeit mostly between Krauss and Tyminski this time) while periodically coming back around to pretty, chart-friendly ballads like "The Lucky One," "I'm Gone," "Stars," and the title track. One of the few creatively adventurous singers to maintain a presence on country radio, Krauss continues to subtly press the boundaries of her sound, but it's hard to imagine anything on New Favorite alienating the masses.