While country music remains a fringe activity on these shores, Dolly Parton’s as popular as she is relentlessly perky.
She made No 2 with her previous album, although that was partly down to the greatest hits bonus disc. There’s a similar inducement here – a recording of her 2014 Glastonbury set – and it’s to Parton’s credit that the classics don’t entirely overshadow the new material.
Her 43rd album was never going to be a radical overhaul but it’s demonstrably a collection from a singer of a certain age (Parton turned 70 this year). With its delicate banjo, Never Not Love You has an autumnal flavour, while I’m Sixteen is warmly nostalgic.
Parton sometimes slips into schmaltz on the ballads – Mama is a shocker – but her breezy country tunes just about save the day.
(Dolly Records/Sony)