humblebee,
I have added following CDs in recent times and I think you may like them. Of course, liking an entire album is getting to be difficult these days (say, since the days of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' or Neil Young's "Harvest").
Allison Krauss / Robert Plant - "Raising Sand"
Not totally female, but Plant sounds good, and the instrumentation is 'industrial' which some may like, but different from the mainstream.
Wailin' Jennys - "40 Days"
Three Canadian girls can harmonize, and sometimes better than the Apalachian and Irish folks they emulate. Try 'Saucy Sailor'.
Gillian Welch - "The Harrow & The Harvest" (I also have an older album which I like: "Time - The Revelator").
An acoustic affair, folkish bluegrass, sparse instrumentation with David Rawling on guitar. Very listenable (to me). Try "The Way It Goes" on youtube.
Two classics I missed out on my initial list:
Alanis Morissette - "Jagged Little Pill".
Carol King - "Tapestry".