Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – “It Don’t Bother Me”

What worked a treat at their first meeting continues to work now, with T Bone Burnett‘s production skills. A brilliant band, with sometime guests Marc Ribot and Bill Frisell, creates nuanced tension or percolates away discreetly as required. Intriguing the duo’s approach to English folk gems by Bert Jansch and Anne Briggs. No minor quibbles available, and one masterful song about death, love and escapism (like a lamento on our times) completes this outstanding collection of covers. Or, with the words of Janne Oinonen:

„Considering the surprise success of their first duo album, it’s not surprising that Plant and Krauss don’t mess much with the alchemic formula for this overdue follow-up. Even so, there is not a whiff of a cynical retread of old tricks during Raise the Roof, which manages the trick of coming across both sophisticatedly polished and winningly raw and in-the-moment.“