Emmylou Harris has often enjoyed observing the present through a filter that takes in the past. She sharpens that focus on ''All I Intended to Be,'' her first solo album in five years.

She continues to emphasize her own songwriting more than she had earlier in her career, contributing four originals. She collaborates with Canada's McGarrigle Sisters on the ''How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower,'' perhaps the best of all the June Carter and Johnny Cash tribute songs of late. ''Take That Ride'' is a spiritual about the end of life for those unsure about their religious convictions, while ''Not Enough'' is an achingly beautiful song about a lost love that never dies.

Harris also draws heavily on the '70s and '80s, when she enjoyed her greatest success. She works for the first time in 25 years with Brian Ahern, her ex-husband, who produced her early classics. Many songs come from that period too, including a gentle reading of Billy Joe Shaver's ''Old Five and Dimers Like Me,'' and a beautiful update of Tracy Chapman's 1989 cut, ''All That You Have Is Your Soul.'' Just as powerful is Harris' meditative take on Merle Haggard's 1985 hit, ''Kern River.''

Harris has spent the last 12 years experimenting with atmospheric arrangements. ''All I Intended to Be'' nicely blends that style with the stronger acoustic base of her prior work. As usual, she blends tradition and innovation with estimable grace.

By MICHAEL McCALL For The Associated Press

-Check out Emmylou Harris' Discography

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