Dar Williams

The Green World (BMG/Razor and Tie)

The Green World, the fourth and latest album from folk singer Dar Williams, is a beautiful chronicle of self-realization, full of revelations and confidences. The simple rhythmic accompaniment, returning to a more folksy sound after her last effort "End of the Summer," showcases Williams' earnest vocals and beautiful lyrics.

The title of the album was taken from a Shakespearean idea of an alternate world where you learned things you don't necessarily want to know about yourself, as Williams described it. This wild, fey place is best expressed through such naturalistic songs as "We Learned the Sea" and "Calling the Moon," both of which feature haunting melodies and lyrics that invite the listener to walk under the night sky. As might be expected from someone who began her career on the Boston-Cambridge open-mike circuit, Williams also uses her voice for protest as well as for emotional expression, as in the tune "I Had No Right," which tells the story of '60s anti-war radicals Daniel and Philip Berrigan. But perhaps the overriding theme on this album is one of renewal. In "Spring Street" Williams confides her battle with uptown pretensions and affirms that she'll push [herself] up through the dirt and shake [her] petals free. In each sentiment expressed in The Green World, Dar Williams has surely accomplished her goal of "capturing life at strange angles." A-