Joan Osborne

Little Wild One (Plum Records/Womanly Hips)

Sometimes the hardest lesson for artists is delivering the goods that brought them their audience in the first place. Joan Osborne didn’t wander too far from the dynamic Relish after it hit in 1995, but her subsequent recordings haven’t captured her as wonderfully all-around until Little Wild One. Osborne’s stock-in-trade remains her voice, earthy, confident, and as at home with the Chieftains as Bob Dylan or Spearhead. That she’s written or co-written nine of the 11 songs means Little Wild One is shaped from within. Bolstered by the team that made Relish, “Hallelujah in the City,” “Sweeter Than the Rest,” and the stunning “Bury Me on the Battery” imbue Osborne’s latest with a grace and respect she’s earned.

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This article appears in October 24 • 2008.

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