Lucinda Williams is back with her first new material since 2016’s The Ghosts of Highway 20. I featured that album track-by-track on the blog, much to the consternation of some loyal readers.
Ghosts was a very meditative, delicate album, full of sad remembrances and long guitar solos. I think the Trump years have made an impact on Williams, because Good Souls, Better Angels is the opposite — loud, angry, confrontational.
I prefer Williams in a more melodic mode, one she moved away from around 2010 as she dived deeper into simple blues structures. For me, a little of this goes a long way.
The album takes some nice shots at Trump, and other hypocritical villains, and Williams delivers those diatribes in her signature slurred snarl.
But for my money, the album’s most effective moment is its quietest — today’s SOTD, ‘When the Way Gets Dark.’ This is a simple, lovely and refreshingly optimistic tune, and a welcome one right now.
When the way gets dark
Will you lose your spirit?
Will you lose your heart?
When the way gets dark
Will you lose your fight?
Will you lose your spark?
[Chorus]
Don’t give up
Hang on tight, don’t be afraid
Don’t give up
It’s gonna be alright, you’re gonna be okay
[Verse 2]
When the way gets dark
Will you lose yourself?
Will you lose it all?
When the way gets dark
Will you lose your balance?
Will you stumble and fall?
[Chorus]
Don’t give up
You have a reason to carry on
Don’t give up
Take my hand, you’re never alone
[Outro]
Ah-la-la, ah-la-la
Ah-la-la, ah-la-la
La-la-la, la-la-la
Ah-la-la
Ah-la-la
Ah-la-la, la-la-la
Meet Me In Montauk 
I seem to recall you saying Williams had lost her ability to sing well, but she sounds okay here.