New Favorite is the first album released by Alison Krauss and Union Station since their role in the megahit soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?--an album that's done more to advance the cause of bluegrass since Bill Monroe first conjured the music out of the hills of western Kentucky. While their previous full album, Forget About It, showcased the more contemporary part of Krauss's musical equation and the O Brother soundtrack spotlighted the more traditional, New Favorite combines the approaches in balancing the softer sounds with the rougher-edged material. Krauss' soft and intimate vocals particularly shine on the soulful title tune of love gone cold. However, it's mostly the older sounds that you'll remember from this largely sombre album, one that telegraphs uncertainty, doom, and the promise of bloodshed throughout much of the repertoire. On "Momma Cried", a song about a child-snatching that tore a family asunder, Dan Tyminski's tenor vocals rise above a wailing dobro, a driving banjo and a thumping, anchoring bass to convey unspeakable pain. Too many of the pop-minded songs fall flat in comparison, but although this may not be the group's best effort overall, no other crossover bluegrass band begins to meet their mark either musically or emotionally, as New Favorite so amply shows. --Alanna Nash