With each new project, some music critic will invariably explain that Shelby Lynne is “hitting her stride” with her most recent release. In each case, the writer is wrong. Lynne reached her stride several albums ago and the former country chanteuse only continues to mesmerize on her latest, Tears, Lies & Alibis.

A quickipedia on Lynne for the uninformed: The sister of Allison Moorer scored her first label deal with Epic Records less than a year after her father shot her mother and then himself when Lynne was 17-years-old. Over a decade immersed in the stables and trappings of country music, she broke through in ’99 with I Am Shelby Lynne, winning the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2000 and unveiling a new soulful, gritty side.

Ever since, Lynne’s flitted from pop (2001’s Love, Shelby) to blues (2003’s Identity Crisis) and back again (2005’s Suit Yourself). Her thespian turn as Johnny Cash’s mother in Walk The Line showcased a different side and the trend continued with the Dusty Springfield tribute, Just A Little Lovin’, in 2008. She’s the wounded butterfly just within your grasp yet impossible to pin down.

The latest incarnation of her whiskey-soaked sorrows features perhaps her best track yet, ‘Old Dogs,’ a weary acoustic lament that diagnoses the “demon pulling at her” and her attempts to “put her past behind.” The biographical snapshot entices with its weathered experience (after all, misery loves company), yet it’s also quite affecting in its cry for redemption: “I drink whiskey and try to forget it / But that just shows the pain even more / Maybe if I just started runnin’ / I could find what I’ve been lookin’ for.”

The softer ‘Loser Dreamer’ repeats the hopeful refrain “dream on” again and again, giving permission for the protagonist for remain who they are despite their flaws. ‘Like A Fool’ kneels and pleads for a lover to stay with Lynne confessing that “love is blind, but she will see” like a fool in love.

The entire affair isn’t quite so heavy, however. ‘Something To Be Said’ is an ode to her road life and Airstream trailer and evokes a Patty Griffin feel. ‘Rains Came’ stomps along to the album’s best groove, while the sub-two-minute ‘Why Didn’t You Call Me’ charms with its quirks and questions.

In the end, however, the torch-carrying anger behind ‘Family Tree’ and the road-weary ‘Home Sweet Home’ cement the album on the darker side of the emotional spectrum. Lynne’s journey is a tragic one and her music correctly charts the path she’s tread. But the beauty emerges through the brokenness to create a country-tinged gem and further proof she’s still in her stride.