Ten Year Night

, who wrote (or co-wrote with ) three of 12 songs on her debut album, , and eight of 12 on her second album, , is responsible for nine of ten on her third album, , a progression that makes this disc her most extensive personal statement yet. (The only cover tune included is 's ) And things are taken very personally here. The title song details the singer's longterm relationship with a romantic partner, recalling the night they met a decade earlier as they drive through the night in the present. In the singer is again on the road, but this time her partner is not with her and she misses him. Such songs of impassioned devotion are contrasted with examples of what used to be called "finger-pointing songs" when sang them. is a harsh criticism of upwardly mobile former friends and colleagues, including a talented fellow folksinger who "sold everything for a Wall Street wage." seems to be directed at a former lover, whom the singer now feels betrayed her. "That trusting girl you knew is dead and gone," she sings in the chorus. Other songs deal with family conflict and reconciliation, as describes a woman leaving home, while is a grown child's recognition of what a parent went through in raising her. It's no surprise by the end of these reflections on relationships and family that at the album's end, in the singer decides it's time to have a child of her own. sings these sentiments in her conversational voice, accompanied here and there by such harmony singers as and , over arrangements featuring 's textured guitar lines. The result is an effective self-examination in which a woman approaching middle age recalls her past, considers her present, and ponders her future. ~ William Ruhlmann