By: Emily J Ramey

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Lord, have I waiting a long time for a new Alison Krauss and Union Station album. Yes, yes, her venture with Robert Plant often featured some familiar faces and is therefore a pretty fantastic album, but there's just no denying the bluegrass magic that flows from the Alison Krauss and Union Station line up. Paper Airplane is the group's first album in quite some time; however, Alison's voice is just as hauntingly beautiful, Tyminski's guitar and vocals are just as steely and full, and Douglas' dobro is just as sweeping and piquant. In fact, it seems like the hills of Appalachia (and the music borne on their backs) haven't changed much at all.

Highlights include the silvery, diaphanous single, album opener, and title track; the barreling, rural "Dust Bowl Children" with vocals by Dan Tyminski (of "Man of Constant Sorrow" fame); the pale, silken vocals of Alison Krauss at her most melancholy on "Dimming of the Day;" the graceful, light melody of "Sinking Stone" with its simple lyrics: "This might as well be done/I'm falling with the sun/When the hours getting sour won't save with time/I'm waving off the one/Who wouldn't let me run/Though we tried, it's a lie I can't keep dragging on/I'm untying this sinking stone...;" and "My Opening Farewell," a blithe, even tune carried by Jerry Douglas' lazy dobro riffs and Krauss' characteristically brisk, glassy vocals.

Paper Airplane is exactly what it should be. What’s the phrase? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” That’s true here more than ever. After seven years of patient waiting on the fans’ part, Alison Krauss and Union Station gave them precisely what they would want: a collection of cool, fresh, easy bluegrass, familiar and lovely. Master musicians can be crowd pleasers too, it seems.

Emily J Ramey is a burgeoning young music writer, living and working in Nashville, TN. Her background includes journalism classes at New York University and a Music Business degree from Belmont University. Check out her blog at listenerextraordinaire.wordpress.com.