Lucinda Williams’ songs have never really been known as rays of sunshine. She’s a downer sometimes, but she’s a spectacular bummer.
The refrain of the opening track off her new record “The Ghosts of Highway 20,” her 12th studio album, goes: “Even your thoughts are dust.” (The song is based on a poem by her late father Miller Williams.) It’s got a little whiff of Ecclesiastes to it.
Williams, 63, seems to be pondering the end maybe even more than she normally does, with heaven, death, killing and ghosts threading their way through these songs. Bill Frisell’s guitar playing adds a lovely glimmering gestural haze to the album, but it’s Williams’ poetry and her gruff, slightly mush-mouthed delivery that give the 14 songs their dark authority. She’s a heavyweight of country, folk, roots and sand-blasted rock whose ragged glory and depth warrant comparisons to Bob Dylan and Tom Waits.
Williams plays at College Street Music Hall, 238 College St., New Haven, on Saturday, March 12, at 8 p.m. $26 to $39. Information: 203-867-2000, collegestreetmusichall.com.
