Twelve years have evaporated since Loretta Lynn’s last LP, a shocking measure of restraint for a singer who’s cranked out over 50 albums since she taught herself to play guitar as a young married teen in the Fifties. Full Circle, then, could be her swan song if she never cuts another. Unlike the double Grammy-winning, Jack White-produced comeback Van Lear Rose from 2004, the now 83-year-old Kentuckian returns to her own version of country’s great American songbook. Intimate, nestled among gentle arrangements, Lynn’s shockingly preserved voice revisits the first song she ever wrote (“Fist City”), touches on traditionals (“In the Pines)” and high mountain scripture (A.P. Carter), and even co-composes with wiseacre Todd Snider (“Everything It Takes”). Distilling others’ heartaches (“Always on My Mind”) comes Full Circle. (Thu., 8:15pm, Stubb’s)

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This article appears in March 18 • 2016.

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