Alison Krauss releases a cover of Brenda Lee's "Losing You," as the lead-in to her solo album Windy City.
Bluegrass and roots traditionalist Alison Krauss has not released a solo studio album since 1999, much to the travesty of music everywhere. Her last proper album with Union Station was 2011's Paper Airplane; and before that, she teamed up with Robert Plant for the six-time Grammy-winning Raising Sand in 2007. Next month, the songbird returns with her long-waited Windy City, a collection of classic country tunes produced by Buddy Cannon. Ahead of the release on Feb. 17 (via Capitol Records), Krauss delights with a magnificent and magical rendering of Brenda Lee's 1963 song "Losing You."
Windy City stands at a meager 10 tracks and contains covers of such standards from Willie Nelson, Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers, Ray Charles and Glen Campbell, among others. "Making this record was really about Buddy," Krauss recently told Rolling Stone Country. "A lot of times my work comes from this place of what I call the 'inner-policeman.' You want to do a good job and do something that comes from within yourself and your standards. But as I've worked with Buddy through the years, I've found that my 'why' got attached to him when I work for him. He really makes me want to do a good job.
Fun fact: Windy City was recorded nearly four years ago. But due to a heavy touring schedule and sickness which put Krauss on the sidelines, the album was shelved until now. "I've never worked less on a record that took so long," she quipped. "Buddy kept looking at his watch, saying, 'We have to finish this before I turn 80!' I kept telling him, 'We've still got time!' He's only in his 60s."
"On this album, I wanted to sing songs that are older than I am," she noted. "There's a real romance in singing other people's stories."
That romance is rich in Krauss' honest but ethereal cover of "Losing You," overflowing with strings and wailing piano accompaniment. "It was a beautiful thing that happened. Now it feels like this album has always been there. It's a really sweet feeling," she said.
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Take a listen to Krauss' "Losing You" below:
