Album: Kin, Kin (Vanguard)

Kin is a songwriting collaboration between Rodney Crowell and author/academic Mary Karr, responsible for 10 of the best new country songs I've heard in ages, brought to life by singers such as Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Kris Kristofferson.

Crowell and Karr clearly bring the best out of each other – whichever of them came up with the opening line "I heard a siren and you came to mind" is clearly a genius. The theme of outlaw appeal holds the album together, with Crowell's fond reminiscences in opener "Anything But Tame" taken up by Norah Jones in "If The Law Don't Want You" ("...neither do I"). It's not all outlaw romanticism: "I'm A Mess" includes a brilliant account of an MRI scan after a car crash.

Download: Anything But Tame; If The Law Don't Want You; I'm A Mess