I wanna get swallowed up in an ocean of love, sings Lucinda Williams on "Ventura." Sounds romantic at first, but think about it -- if the ocean swallows you, you're dead.

Lucinda's seventh album in 24 years is about not only love, but the fear and dread that are its ever-present twin, and the blood-boiling lust that can make us forget those doubts for a few moments at a time. World Without Tears finds her gift undimmed for describing such feelings and marrying them to raggedly seductive music.