On her first studio disc since 2003, the silver-haired songbird combines her own material with selections by kindred spirits including Patty Griffin, Tracy Chapman and Merle Haggard, whose “Kern River” is lent a ghost-gospel beauty. As always, this stuff could be a little more dynamic; much of All I Intended to Be blurs together in a respectful roots-music wash. But the album’s atmosphere is as deep as Harris’s legacy.
Emmylou Harris plays the Town Hall Thu, Jun 19.