Now, "sunny" isn't usually the first word that comes up in a discussion of Gillian's music. Maybe "partly cloudy" is a better fit for Soul Journey, the latest from this gifted singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After all, it offers much of what we've come to associate with her style, stark but powerful stories set to music whose bare intensity conveys an almost unbearable beauty.

Truly, there are moments on Soul Journey that do stand... more