Blessed

Blessed, the roots-music veteran’s latest feels a little sleepy compared with 2008’s hard-rocking Little Honey. Though she delivers heartfelt laments like ”I Don’t Know How You’re Livin”’ with an impressive candor, Williams sometimes gets lost in the velvet-twang arrangements. One exception is ”Seeing Black,” a bitter rave-up inspired by her pal Vic Chesnutt”s recent suicide; there she even holds her own against a vinegary guitar solo from Elvis Costello. B?