Dixie Chicks - Fly

Their well-publicised spat with US country music radio notwithstanding, one of the most immediately obvious things about the Dixie Chicks' most recent album was its fm radio-friendly sheen. Fly, by contrast, while hardly rough around the edges, allows itself more spaces and more unevenness, and is a better album for it; nice to hear the lap steel and dobro more prominently too. First half is noticeably stronger than the second, songs like "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Goodbye Earl" sticking in the head. They don't take themselves too seriously, either - there are plenty of good-time songs and yee-haw moments, none of them grating.