Even alongside new discs from ex-husband Richard and son Teddy, the release of Versatile Heart is cause for celebration. By Linda Thompson's standards, it promptly follows 2002's Fashionably Late (which appeared 17 years after her solo debut, One Clear Moment — take that, Chinese Democracy). Linda Thompson's career is inevitably tied to her former husband — wryly described in her liner notes as a "little known, but extremely useful guitarist" — where she brought his bleak lyrics to vivid life, honing her skills as an interpretive singer.
    Although Thompson belatedly found her voice as a songwriter, on Versatile Heart she sings songs written by Teddy and daughter Kamila. This record exemplifies a contemporary shift in pop music, where passing the torch is replaced by pan-generational activity — if the elder Thompsons and Wainwrights are still producing their best work, it often occurs in their children's company. Indeed, one highlight of Versatile Heart is the Rufus Wainwright-penned "Beauty," with Antony's harmonies suiting Thompson's mournful lead perfectly. On "Whisky, Bob Copper and Me,” Thompson is joined by Martin and Eliza Carthy of the Brit-folk Waterson-Carthy dynasty.
    Elswehere Thompson invests Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's wartime lament "Day After Tomorrow" with just the right amount of heartbreak. In her self-deprecating country pastiche with songwriting partner Betsy Cook, "Give Me a Sad Song," Thompson sings she's in a class of her own. On the evidence heard on Versatile Heart, it would be hard to disagree.