Maura O’Connell – Don’t I Know

“It’s the singer, not the song,” declared Jagger and Richards, echoing a critical convention common to every musical genre. And when the singer is as effortlessly overpowering as Maura O’Connell, material becomes (almost by definition) but a vehicle for her gifts.

Still, O’Connell has always been meticulous in her selections, frequently relying on proven Nashville writers and fellow-traveler folkies for accessible but rarely overwrought (or over-covered) songcraft. For her tenth album, O’Connell turns to producer Jerry Douglas and picks tunes from Nashville vets Al Anderson, Jim Lauderdale, Kim Richey and Mindy Smith, and places her emotional bets with care. If a theme binds these songs, it’s acceptance of loss, summed up on the Tim O’Brien/Pat Alger closing track: “Well, it’s time to learn to let them go.”

It’s a genuine sentiment, but without some refreshed, reimagined lyricism, such sentiments creep toward the middle of the road. That dilemma nags many of these songs, including the rare original tune, “No Good Day For Dying”, in which O’Connell commits to “live all I can in the here and now,” though whether that means anything more than enjoying “this ride on my trip around the sun” (as she sings on the perky opening track) isn’t clear.

Likewise, producer Jerry Douglas soaks the arrangements in his lap steel and background vocals, giving the record a tastefully airy and slightly more acoustic sound than her previous album, the punchy Ray Kennedy-produced Walls And Windows. But whereas the sound and songs of that record stunned and provoked, Don’t I Know feels safe and more than a little secure.