At 52, Patty Loveless is hardly a doddering old maid, but it's been more than a decade since she was deemed too mature for country radio. With her chart-topping days done, she wedded herself to the cause of traditional roots music, starting with her standout 2001 release, Mountain Soul. That album represented a rare blend of artistry and popularity, selling 300,000 copies and landing on a slew of best-of critics' lists.

On the long-awaited sequel, Loveless starts with a stirring version of Harlan Howard's "Busted."  Elsewhere, she takes a second stab at previous album cuts, including a lively acoustic twist on "A Handful of Dust" (When Fallen Angels Fly) and the rousing, coming-of-age story, "Big Chance" (Dreamin' My Dreams). In all, Mountain Soul II represents something old (gospel standard "Friends in Gloryland"), something new ("Fools' Thin Air"), something borrowed (folk ballad "Bramble and the Rose") and nearly everything blue. Throughout, Loveless fulfills the promise laid bare in the title: Mountain Soul II mines bluegrass, country, folk and gospel to form an eloquent portrait of rural America, and she paints the pitch-perfect scene with her pure twangy alto.

With much of Music Row relying on slick packaging and trite themes, Loveless is a standard bearer for her craft, a living testament to how the sweetest triumphs can rise from the deepest sorrows. What's lifted Loveless above her peers is the rare ability to channel heartache into moments of transcendence and hard-won truth. For evidence on Mountain Soul II, look no further for the grim "Prisoner's Tears," a spare ballad which recalls Johnny Cash's pair of prison albums, where her voice echoes against walls not made of stone or steel, but of soul-numbing pain.

That Loveless moves so fluidly through these backwoods, bound-to-heartache classics should come as no surprise. These songs are her birthright, representative of her childhood in the coal-mining regions of Kentucky. There, music served as a source of comfort, a shield against the impossible demands of that world.  On a trio of hymns in the heart of the album, led by the spiritual salve of "Working on a Building," Loveless quiets her inner ghosts and rises above her life's station.

Loveless' efforts leading up to this passage sing with resignation; their messenger carries a bone-deep loneliness that may only be halted by death.  Mountain Soul II turns, then, on the dramatic "We Are All Children of Abraham," a call-and-response sermon that sparkles with faithful fervor. Revived, Loveless finishes the album with open-hearted songs of acceptance, assurance, even hope. Though the old-time numbers here are excellent, there's also proof that present-day Nashville can balance emotional heft with melodic hooks. "When the Last Curtain Falls," with its ever-sobbing fiddle, stands among Loveless's best ballads. And Jon Randall's "You Burned the Bridge," a close relative of his award-winning composition, "Whiskey Lullaby," is a quiet stunner.

As she so often does, Loveless closes on a reflective note. "Diamond in My Crown," a haunting remake of the little-known Emmylou Harris gem, features a pristine harmony part from its originator. Vince Gill, Del McCoury and Carl Jackson also make guest appearances on Mountain Soul II: the credits list reads like a who's who of Nashville's best, but Loveless commands the action with the power and grace that have become her stock in trade.

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