Pure & Simple

AlbumAug 19 / 201610 songs, 33m 3s
Country Pop
Noteable

After 50 years of marriage, she’s more than ready to tell the truth about love. She recently renewed vows with Carl Dean—her husband since 1966—and now Dolly\'s celebrating with a set of songs that examine the subject of love in all its colors and complications. The understated acoustic arrangements only strengthen the Smoky Mountain Songbird’s underlying authenticity. With nothing left to prove, she’s one of the last country stars who handles a well-traveled theme with nothing but hard-earned wisdom and unburdened honesty.

Our take on the country legend's 43rd album.

Andy Gill reviews the week's new releases

6 / 10

Growing up in the fabulously named Locust Ridge, Tennessee, the young Dolly Parton developed both a desperate desire to overcome her dirt-fl...

The country legend’s latest isn’t quite the kind of back-to-basics project that gave Johnny Cash’s late career such a boost, but it’s a step in that direction

60 %

In Parton, as in Wilde – rarely pure and never simple. Album review by Matthew Wright