Album: Ryan Adams, Ashes & Fire (Columbia)

Remember the Ryan Adams of Heartbreaker and Gold, the albums that suggested the ghost of Gram Parsons had found an outlet in the former lead singer of Whiskeytown?

Well, he's back and – while it may, at times, sound a little too familiar – A&F is almost good enough to banish the memory of the dozen or so albums – influenced by grams not Parsons – since. Simple, soaring songs that are almost the equal of that voice, back to its best.