Krauss Slips Over to Love’s Mushy Side

** 1/2 ALISON KRAUSS

“Forget About It”

Rounder

No one feels the weight of the world on their shoulders quite like a twentysomething romantic. At 27, Krauss often sounds nearly crushed by her awareness that life and love involve loss, compromise, disappointment. In moving further from her country and bluegrass roots into Lilith Fair-like introspective folk-pop, she’s gravitated to songs that cross the line between self-examination and self-pity.

Her latest album (due in stores Tuesday) charts an inverted emotional arc, starting with the sweet reunion of Allyson Taylor and Larry Byrom’s “Stay,” in which she sings “Where have you been, my long lost friend? It’s good to see you again. . . . I’ve missed your smile.”

After the confident kiss-off of Robert Lee Castleman’s title song, the slide into adult-contemporary mushiness begins. Except for Hugh Prestwood’s George Jones-ish weeper “Ghost in This House,” which works because the feeling of romantic disintegration is so complete, the sorrowful mood continues until she pulls up again toward the end, finishing in top form with Allen Reynolds’ stunningly beautiful waltz “Dreaming My Dreams With You,” a country hit for Waylon Jennings two decades ago.

It feels as good as rediscovering the smile of a long-lost friend.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.