The Beauty of the Rain

1	Mercy of the Fallen 4:11
2	Farewell to the Old Me 2:45
3	I Saw a Bird Fly Away 2:51
4	The Beauty of the Rain 3:00
5	The World's Not Falling Apart 4:24
6	The One Who Knows 3:47
7	Closer to Me 3:42
8	Fishing in the Morning 2:38
9	Whispering Pines 4:00
10	Your Fire Your Soul 3:04
11	I Have Lost My Dreams 3:05

Barnes & Noble

Reflecting on this album, singer-songwriter Dar Williams has said, "The Beauty of the Rain is more tied to an urban landscape. It takes on smaller conversations." If her lyrical scope may be more confined, while no less incisive, William’s musical vision has nonetheless expanded. Here, the acclaimed performer is joined by a host of A-list guests including Alison Krauss, banjo player Bela Fleck, Blues Traveler’s John Popper, keyboardist John Medeski, and trumpeter Chris Botti. Their input brilliantly expands the tonal colors of Williams’s finely wrought songs. As Williams put it, "It can be a little lonely sometimes being a girl with a guitar. I wanted to reach out into the world and see what else was going on." Chronicling her move from Massachusetts to New York, The Beauty of the Rain displays the pinpoint perceptions and intimate reflections that have come to characterize Williams’s writing at its best. And while her vocal beauty is by now a given, the personal nature of these songs brings an even greater depth to her singing. (Equally affecting is Williams’s rendition of the Band’s “Whispering Pines.”) Now a decade into her recording career, Williams keeps reaching new peaks. William Pearl

All Music Guide

Where Mortal City was a consciously reformatted Honesty Room, End of the Summer was an over-the-top break away from Mortal City, and The Green World was an admission that End of the Summer was a forced endeavor, The Beauty of the Rain is Dar Williams' first recording that truly expands upon the sound of the album before it. For the first time in her career, Williams no longer pushed too hard to readjust her sound, but instead embraced and built upon it. The result is her most comfortable and confident recording to date and the first time Williams did not appear to be ashamed of her previous work. Complete with a heavy roster including John Medeski, Alison Krauss, Béla Fleck, and John Popper, The Beauty of the Rain is a polished and spacious-sounding recording where virtually every track is an easy parade through flourishing arrangements and accessibility. The only song to stand out as a bit off the mark is the initially stunning "Whispering Pines," which shifts from a lovely, lush backing vocal and keyboard opening to a new age-tinted piano ballad, but when the third verse sets in, guest Cliff Eberhardt's soulless and strained singing turns it into a poor Disney-style "end-of-picture" duet and the whole song crashes down in a train wreck of poor judgment. Album-opener and extraordinary single "Mercy of the Fallen," the staccato intricacies of "Closer to Me," and the understated title track more than make up for this blunder and will certainly please passionate fans as well as increase Dar Williams' fan base considerably. Gregory McIntosh