Album Of The Week: Ryan Adams Ashes & Fire

Someone wise once told me that most great country singers are really just soul singers. I'm not sure whether Ryan Adams even counts as a country singer anymore; he's spent the past decade or so slip-sliding into the L.A. rock-pro universe. But he's definitely a soul singer, especially on his new one Ashes & Fire. His singing voice, as strong and confident as it's ever been, stands as the number-one reasons why Ashes & Fire is worth your time. It's a gorgeous instrument, hushed and intimate even when it's projecting with full-on back-of-the-room power. Adams moves from full-on stomp-wail power on the chorus of opener "Dirty Rain" to quietly plaintive puppydog-earnest sing-speak on "Come Home," and he sounds just great the whole time. And the music arranges itself around putting that voice in the best possible light at every moment; that's the other remarkable thing.