Pegi Young’s never had an easy time of it. Though a talented artist in her own right, she was often regarded as a satellite that circled the orbit of her ex, Neil Young. Still, after establishing her solo career throughout several albums, Pegi’s found her footing and, with it, an independent following. That said, Raw is her most definitive statement yet—an album that lives up to its title with passion and verve. Pegi exorcises her shock, heartbreak and disappointment in the wake of a painful divorce that shattered the life she shared with her husband for some 36 years. It’s apt that she’s dubbed her band The Survivors—the album they helped her construct details the seven stages of grief but, more important, clears the way toward emerging intact. The inclusion of choice covers—the sassy and soulful “Trying to Live My Life Without You,” a mournful “Just When I Needed YouMost,” a languid and unlikely take on the defiant Nancy Sinatra gem “These Boots Are Made for Walking” and a subdued remake of Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter”—reflect differently on the circumstances, but also play to the point as well. Nevertheless, it’s opening track “Why” that sets the tone, with Pegi asking her estranged mate, “Why’d you have to ruin my life?” before embracing her sobering reality, finding solace and, eventually, the grace to forgive. Raw is hardly unique in its pain and perspective, but it is a thoughtful, and perhaps even helpful, discourse that affirms solitary sadness is also a universal travail.