Letter Home

Letter Home, haunts, hangs, rattles and bangs. Produced by Freddy Koella (Bob Dylan, K.D. Lang, Doctor John) and Kenny Edwards (Emmylou Harris, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt) and featuring Koella, Edwards, former Jay Hawks drummer Don Heffngton on drums and Stewart Cole on trumpet, Letter Home is as tender as it is dark and deep. Hinging on the proverbial letter that was never written, the entire work is a sincerely spoken recitation. "Secret Agent Eyes" whispers and wails through ethereal electric guitars, with Cole's part-animal, part-trumpet line rising and falling on the horizon. "Parallel Lines" rambles down the street, the lined page, the garden row-bespeckled with banjo, violins and harmonica. The album unfurls, a smile in slow motion, taking a turn for the wry with "American Miracle," her very own brand of literate lyri-cynicism. Love songs-equal parts stirring and cerebral-propel the record along. Koella's vivid arrangement style and taste for the cinematic soundscape underscore Nelson's uniquely evocative voice and incisive turn of phrase. Altogether, Letter Home is a missive not to be missed.