Review

It’s been 14 long years since Alison Krauss released an album with Union Station, her go-to group since the late ’80s, but it’s not as if she’s been lazing around in the interim. Since that 2011 offering, Paper Airplane, Krauss has released another solo album (Windy City, her fourth) and a second collaboration with Robert Plant (Raise the Roof), while also keeping busy on several other varied projects. All of her hard work has paid off handsomely: Krauss has earned more Grammy awards, 27, than almost any other female artist in history2007’s Raising Sand, the first of the Plant collaborations, alone won several, including Album of the Yearand she hasn’t gotten there by playing it safe. While still often categorized as a bluegrass artist, Krauss and Union Station rarely play the traditionalists, preferring to use the genre’s strictly defined elements more as a starting point than a rein, and Arcadia is no exception. That becomes apparent from the album’s first track, “Looks Like the End of the Road,” which was written by Jeremy Lister andas the title suggestsis not exactly the feel-good anthem of the year. “Goodbye to the world that I know,” Krauss sings in the chorus, “looks like the end of the road”her delivery tender but fraught, the accompaniment broadly orchestral in its reach. Some other tracks, too, tend to lean toward fragility and heartbreak (“The Wrong Way,” “Forever”), and then there are those that are more upbeat. But regardless of the sentiment, Arcadia never rings false. Union Station is in large part a reason for that. Krauss (who plays fiddle as well as sings) and the core bandthe legendary Jerry Douglas (Dobro/lap steel), Ron Block (banjo, guitar, vocals), Barry Bales (bass, vocals) and new member Russell Moore, who provides co-lead vocals on some tracks, baritone harmonies on othersare as instinctual and impeccably synced an outfit as any. Whether on those tunes that do in fact track closer to trad (“Snow,” “Richmond on the James”) or those that scramble the lines (“One Ray of Shine,” the exquisite album-closing “There’s a Light Up Ahead”), Alison Krauss and Union Station are an ever-rewarding listen, and Arcadia, despite the wait for its arrival, is among their finest yet.

Jeff Tamarkin,

Product Details

The fourteen-year gap between *Paper Airplane* and *Arcadia* only sharpens the anticipation here. Union Station, anchored by Dan Tyminski, Ron Block, Barry Bales, and Jerry Douglas, remains one of the tightest bands in American roots music, and Krauss’s voice has lost nothing over the decades. Some reunions feel obligatory; this one feels earned.

For nearly four decades, Alison Krauss & Union Station have upheld their legacy as one of the most influential and widely celebrated acts in bluegrass and roots music. Krauss is a 27-time Grammy winner and was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2021. Known for an immaculately crafted but endlessly surprising sound that transcends the boundaries of roots, country, rock & roll, and pop, Alison Krauss & Union Station are making their long-awaited return with Arcadia their first LP since the 2011 masterpiece Paper Airplanea critically lauded, multiple Grammy Award winning LP that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country, Bluegrass, and Folk Album charts. This spring, they will embark on a 73-date tour of North America, their first since 2015.

Arcadia was produced by Alison Krauss & Union Station with additional production by 10-time Grammy winning producer Gary Paczosa, who has worked extensively with the band. The players Alison Krauss (fiddle, lead vocal), Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Ron Block (banjo, guitar, vocals), Barry Bales (bass, vocals), and welcoming highly acclaimed and celebrated tenor vocalist Russell Moore (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal) as the newest member are five distinct personalities, each of whom also enjoys a flourishing solo career. But when they come together, they transform into a peerless group of musicians who share a singular focus.

Tracklist

1.Looks Like The End Of The Road (3:39)2.The Hangman (3:37)3.The Wrong Way (3:35)4.Granite Mills (3:40)5.One Ray Of Shine (4:03)6.Richmond On The James (3:27)7.North Side Gal (2:36)8.Forever (3:40)9.Snow (3:23)10.There’s A Light Up Ahead (4:14)

UPC: 708857018222
Label: Down The Road
Release Date: 3.28.25
Format: CD