Blue Pony

Julie Miller, whose ”All My Tears” was a highlight of Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball, arrives on her alt-folk-rock debut, Blue Pony, armed with dark, poetic lyrics about betrayal, redemption, and the damage caused by long-held secrets. Joined by Steve Earle for the open-a-vein despair of ”I Call on You,” her little-girl vocals act as a counterpoint to her searching mysticism. One of the year’s most haunting surprises. A