Deceptively quiet, Emmylou Harris's collaboration with producer Daniel Lanois offers up songs at once both lush and spare. The songwriters range from Jimi Hendrix to Bob Dylan to Gillian Welch, with Neil Young gently crooning along on Lucinda Williams' sorrowful "Sweet Old World" and the title track, his own composition. Each time I listen to Wrecking Ball, I discover new moments -- new stories -- emerging from its depths.

Andrea Sandke