The other night I had a dream that an angel wrapped her arms around me, sang me a lullabye, and rocked me to sleep. When I awoke some time later, I realized I had left an Alison Krauss CD playing, and though I imagined the arms, the angel's voice was real. The first thing many might notice about Alison's new CD, "Forget About It," is that it's not an "and Union Station" CD. Though members of Union Station play on the CD, this CD is less about the bluegrass roots showcased on previous CD's and more about Alison using her mesmerizing voice and sparse instrumentation to paint eleven pictures of loss, longing, and heartache.

Though all songs are similarly-themed, she culls her choices from a wide variety of songwriters: from Todd Rundgren to Michael McDonald to Gordon Kennedy (of "Change The World" fame.) She is able, with her fine backing cast, to make each song her own though. After hearing her version of any one of them, it's hard to imagine anyone else doing the same song.

The album opens with the track "Stay," not to be confused with Lisa Loeb's "Stay," or the thousand other similarly titled songs whose songwriters opted for that four-letter word over a less conservative four-letter word. "Stay" begins with Alison's voice over muted instrumentation, and this is a signal for things to come. It appears that she's realized her voice is as powerful as her fiddle-playing.

The second track, "Forget About It," and the track "Could You Lie," written by Union Station member Ron Block, are the only two somewhat uptempo songs on the entire album, both featuring the tight musicianship that have marked Alison's previous works. However, the uptempo songs are hardly missed, when Alison reels off absolutely heart-wrenching vocals like her version of Shenandoah's "Ghost In This House." (Anyone who can listen to that song without the slightest tug of emotion might consider asking the Grinch what he did when his heart was two sizes too small.)

Besides Union Station members, she brings in an impressive list of guest players on this album. Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas add mandolin and dobro respectively to most of the tracks, with Douglas switching to a wistful lap steel guitar for the tracks "Empty Hearts" and "That Kind of Love." The Cox family adds back-up vocals on two of the tracks. Then, in the absolutely beautiful closing track, her take on the Waylon Jennings standard "Dreaming My Dreams With You," she gets harmony vocal help from Dolly Parton and Lyle Lovett.

The final product is an album that is perfect for those rainy weekend afternoons or lazy winter mornings where you gently let the music tug you into the land of the living. I really enjoy her bluegrass work with Union Station, but with her vocal talent and song selection on this album, I don't miss it.