Maura O’Connell – Walls And Windows

Sooner or later, Maura O’Connell would get around to making a whole album worthy of her voice, one of the best of her generation, irrespective of genre. Walls And Windows is it.

Four years after Wandering Home, her first full exploration of Celtic music, the Nashville native has focused her deep-heated, muscular voice on an exceptional suite of songs by Kim Richey, Van Morrison, Patty Griffin, Eric Clapton, Malcolm Holcombe, Jonell Mosser, Ron Sexsmith, and John Prine. Much of the wholly satisfying results owe to the gimlet-eyed song selection, but also to Ray Kennedy, who brings his signature punchy jangle to the uptempo numbers and a lush sinewy character to the ballads. Only Daniel Lanois understands as much about miking and mixing a voice, capturing musical texture without losing the emotional power behind the style.

Walls And Windows, though, is primarily O’Connell’s achievement. On Richey’s “Every River”, she may be surrounded by a flotilla of guitarists — including Kennedy, Kenny Vaughan, Darrell Scott, and Doug Lancio — but her phrasing glows and rails. On Griffin’s politically charged “Poor Man’s House”, O’Connell lowers her voice to a severe pitch, and makes the song more than a protest; it becomes an American jeremiad. She takes Clapton’s “I Get Lost”, originally done as a bossa nova homage, and transforms the melody into torchy mystery.

Even better is her handling of Morrison’s much-covered “Crazy Love” — too gentle for gospel, but sensual enough for country soul. The closing “Sleepy Eyed Boy”, an overlooked gem from Prine, initially marries O’Connell to a single acoustic guitar, and then to percussion, cello, and concertina. It’s a consummate performance — understated, stirring, and true.