The latest from the perennial queen of bluegrass and her erstwhile backing band is laced with an almost refreshing schizophrenia.

Many of the tunes on this disc fit in perfectly with the musicians' stellar collaborations on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain soundtracks, with singular talent that epitomizes the very best of what modern "country" music should be. In particular, the tracks sung by Dan Tyminski stand up as some of the best ever recorded by this band. Tyminski's powerful vocals carry upbeat songs such as "Rain Please Go Away" and the more mournful tunes like "Pastures of Plenty" equally well. In fact, the later track stands as inarguably the best on the album.

Unfortunately, Krauss fares somewhat worse when the vocal duties fall onto her shoulders. It's not that she isn't up to the task--quite the opposite, in fact, as her always capable voice has never sounded better, whether she's lightly breathing out the simple high notes of "Borderline" or belting out the chorus of "A Living Prayer." The problem here is that Krauss's songs seem to be tailor-made for Top 40 cross-over radio. While the lyrics are solid, the music seems a tad over-processed and polished, a far cry from the down and dirty sound we've come to expect. These aren't bad songs by any means, but longtime fans may be somewhat surprised to see just how mainstream nearly half of the album feels.

Despite the somewhat jarring sense of being pulled back and forth between these competing styles, Lonely Runs Both Ways holds up surprisingly well as a cohesive piece of work. The fervent strains of guitar, bass, banjo, and fiddle running through every song somehow manage to keep the whole mess together, and its hard to imagine a single listener won't find at least one song that makes it onto their permanent playlist.