Mary Gauthier: The Foundling

This Louisiana songwriter made her name a decade back with bare-boned songs about junkies, hookers, death row convicts and the like. Since then, success has helped her mellow into more mainstream country, albeit with a gothic twist. Here, she plunges into a moving song cycle about growing up orphaned and becoming a teen runaway. The songs – sometimes spoken, sometimes howled – are racked but unflinchingly honest, none more so than "March 11, 1962", an account of a conversation with her mother after Gauthier tracked her down. Producer Michael Timmins (of Cowboy Junkies) provides shimmering accompaniments to heighten the drama of a dark but courageous autobiography.