Arcadia

Alison Krauss and her band Union Station aren’t what you’d call prolific. After all, this eighth studio album from the bluegrass outfit comes 14 years after its predecessor, the critically acclaimed <i>Paper Airplane</i>. As any Krauss fan knows, though, the 27-time Grammy-winning multi-hyphenate prioritizes quality over quantity, and the 10 new songs comprising this collection are no exception to that rule. Krauss and the band produced <i>Arcadia</i> alongside fellow Grammy winner Gary Paczosa (Dolly Parton, Sierra Ferrell), with IIIrd Tyme Out’s Russell Moore joining Union Station in place of longtime guitarist Dan Tyminski, whose own solo and side projects have picked up significantly in the near decade and a half since <i>Paper Airplane</i>’s release.

<i>Arcadia</i> opens with the Jeremy Lister-penned “Looks Like the End of the Road,” a dusky and dramatic ballad with a sparkling vocal from Krauss, whose voice sounds as pristine as it ever has. Moore’s guitar retains the Southern gothic moodiness once brought by Tyminski, and his lead vocal on tracks like “The Hangman” offers a sturdy, soulful counterpoint to Krauss’s honeyed soprano—notably, Moore is the most decorated male vocalist in International Bluegrass Music Association history. Other highlights include the Tyminski co-write “The Wrong Way,” which lets Jerry Douglas shine on dobro and lap steel guitar, and closer “There’s a Light Up Ahead,” another Lister tune with gorgeously atmospheric production that really gives Krauss space to soar.