represents a return of sorts for , finding the singer/songwriter shifting away from the ramshackle mess of 2015's and toward the kind of grandiose emotional bloodletting she pioneered on her 2007 album, . This transition was intentional, spurred by producer 's notion that hasn't topped her vocal on "The Story" in the decade since. Seizing this challenge, -- supported, as ever, by ' and -- hired as co-producers and crafted the stately, spooky . Where bore signs of earnest idealism, wears its scars proudly, using "Every Time I Hear That Song" -- a lament whose refrain provides the album with its title -- as its touchstone. Wounded but compassionate, the song is about forgiveness, and that's the underlying emotion that ties together this backwoods balladry, operatic Americana, and rough-hewn rock. doesn't always find forgiveness easy but she's operating from a place of empathy, which gives her tales of loss, frustration, and wrong turns a deep resonance, especially as her lyrics find a match within the music. have always elevated 's songs above the realm of delicate confessionals, but here they attack with a muscular grace, keeping their full power in reserve until the necessary moments. not only capture this elemental musicality, they accentuate it through cinematic string arrangements from the late . Sweeping and symphonic, 's strings command attention but they do not overshadow , who indeed hasn't sounded this nuanced or forceful on record since . Nevertheless, is a different beast than its predecessor, a record with more texture, shade, and ambiguity: it is clearly the work of a maturing artist and it's all the richer for it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine