Lyle Lovett
(Lost Highway)
For his first proper solo album his 2003 Lost Highway debut My Baby Don't Tolerate, country music's beloved eccentric Lyle Lovett delivers the long-awaited sequel to his acclaimed 1998 double LP love letter to his fellow Texas songwriters Step Inside This House.
Only on Natural Forces, Lovett incorporates himself into the mix as well, offering up four original tracks to offset the seven covers chosen for this collection. And it's within these tunes that exist the album's liveliest moments, including the twangy hoedown "Pantry" (co-written with girlfriend April Kimble and appears twice on the album, both in electric and acoustic forms), the downright hilarious jump blues number "Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel" and "It's Rock and Roll", a song co-written with fellow Lost Highway labelmate Robert Earl Keen that could very well be the most rocking song Lovett has done yet (guitar fuzz wears well on Lyle, and here's hoping he explores this sound on future endeavors).
Offsetting the jovial, kinetic nature of Lovett's originals are his choices of covers, most of which are very quiet and somber readings of classic songs from the likes of fellow Lone Star balladeers Townes Van Zandt, David Ball, Tommy Elskes and Vince Bell. The best of this batch, however, has got to be Lovett's gorgeous, waltz-like reading of children's songwriter Don Sanders' "Bayou Song" and a downright haunting take on country-folk great Eric Taylor's "Whooping Crane" (from Taylor's self-titled 1995 album), doing grand justice to the man whose career has been so crucial to the design by which Lovett has crafted his own sound.
While Lyle Lovett is a man not known to stick to just one style, Natural Forces stands tall as his most diverse album to date. Yet, at the same time, it's sufficiently steadfast in the elements of such classic works in his back catalog as Pontiac and The Road to Esenada to keep this wonderful new album in heavy rotation amongst his longtime devoted fanbase.
Standout Tracks: "Pantry", "Whooping Crane", "Bayou Song", "Loretta", "It's Rock and Roll" RON HART
