Perhaps, surprisingly given my musical tastes, I really enjoyed the previous album release “Fly” by the Dixie Chicks. I certainly wasn’t alone as it was a phenomenal seller in the US and won several music awards to boot. The girls – Natalie Maines (Lead vocals), Martie Seidel (Fiddle, viola, vocals) and Emily Robison (Guitar, banjo, vocals) - are all accomplished musicians and pleasing on the eye too. Although they have not made much impact in the UK, I felt it would be reasonable to buy their new output “Home” unheard.

The Dixie Chicks have built up a reputation of being an amalgam of country, blue grass and rock’n’roll. “Fly” traded heavily on this mixture and is perhaps the reason why it did appeal to such a wide ranging audience. There were also a couple of “stand out” tracks on it which grabbed air play attention. “Home“ is a much more thoughtful, much slower, back to country roots affair. Previously they have written most of their own songs – here they have relied more heavily on established songwriters. However they have been more committed to their own production values and delivering their own sound.

These are your country cousins joining in a Texas hoe-down. This is a bouncy fast paced happy-go-lucky song accompanied by fiddle and banjo. This track was released as a single.

“I cried ‘Never gonna hold the hand of another guy’,’Too young for him’, they told her, Waitin’ for the love of a travelin’ solider, our love will never end”

Natalie sings a routine medium tempo country song (banjos and fiddles to the fore again). Pleasant enough but not particularly memorable. The words don’t me much to me either “Swing me way down South, Sing me something brave from your mouth and I’ll bring you pearls of water on my hips and the love in my lips”. Maybe I’m just not country joe lyrical enough. Anyone out there care to explain?

This is another country ballad – very similar in style but slightly quicker pace to the previous track. However there are some interesting patterns and counter melodies picked out in the accompaniment using Uillean pipes, penny whistle and bodhran. The Chicks have used Irish influences to very good effect in the past, demonstrating the close links between Blue grass, Gaelic and Celtic music.

GODSPEED (SWEET DREAMS) (4:42) ***

The Dixie Chicks are clearly in charge of their own destiny now – in charge of song choice, arrangements, production. This album is certainly not as commercial in sound as their previous release and does not have that immediate appeal. It will obvious delight their huge following of loyal fans – many or most will feel at “Home” back in their blue grass and country roots. However I could not get over the feeling that the next track had to be another upbeat song like “Goodbye Earl” or a rocker like “Sin Wagon”. The irony is that, while not totally absent, this brand of country has a lot less humour in it than the last.

(There is a more recent release of this album in the US which includes bonus DVD tracks)