Same Old Man indeed. This is between Hiatt’s 15th and 25th release — depending on how you count best-ofs, live recordings, and groups like Little Village — and the reliability factor remains high. He’s an ersatz curmudgeon, a faux eccentric, a dilapidated Everyman with an undeniably big heart and an equally undeniable knack for songwriting. He can jangle a slant-back country blues song or ambush you emotionally by confessing for redemption. He’s got elements of a Nashville pro and a guy who’s listened to a lot of Dylan. He’s a painstaking lyricist who doesn’t try to make it all add up. This may be his most enjoyable outing since the sweet spot two-fer of Bring The Family and Slow Turning in 1987 and ’88, but it isn’t that much better than the ones in-between.
The lead-in, "Old Days," is a string of shaggy-dog anecdotes about life on the road with real blues musicians—Sonny Terry, John Lee Hooker—set to a cloppity beat to keep the mood ragged. Then the first, and maybe the best, of the disc’s three riveting valentines, entitled "Love You Again," offering profound gratitude for a woman’s grace in favorably reconsidering their relationship. "On With You" appropriates Dylan’s "All Along The Watchtower" riff while Hiatt slips into character, singing like an old codger, a little kitschy, like a pale version of Larry Blackmon from Cameo. "Hurt My Baby" is a song about living with a woman with deep emotional, and perhaps physical, scars, made all the more harrowing if you know Hiatt’s second wife committed suicide in 1985. Four songs in, even relative newcomers to Hiatt begin to realize that while the mood and subject matter may careen, a core sensibility guides the project.
"What Love Can Do" is a dead ringer for a Nick Lowe tune. Given that Lowe himself isn’t listed in the credits, that’s apparently Hiatt singing with Lowe’s highly enunciated croon, and aping his old friend and colleague’s wizened-parable approach to songwriting. "Ride My Pony" benefits from ex-North Mississippi All Star Luther Dickinson’s slide guitar, which rustles the mix like your hand rustles the water when you drape it over the side of a slow-moving rowboat. "Cherry Red" rocks harder than the others in its own shambling way, and may be the most accessible tune on the record.
"Our Time" is the second gorgeous valentine, raw memories of a old flame, and Hiatt’s typically croaky, phlegmy voice seems further strained by the emotion, as he recounts vivid details ("now you’re feeding me fabulous Chinese takeout on the dampened bed sheets) in a talk-sung blues narrative while Dickinson’s adds great mandolin garnish. That begins a run of love songs that close out the album, including the title track ("a few less brain cells and a lot less hair/Honey, tell me, do you still care?") and "Let’s Give Love A Try" ("I’m a long shot baby/But they do come in"), the latter juxtaposing pristine guitar with raconteur irreverence.
Some Hiatt fans will probably wince at the preponderance of unabashed romance here, while others wonder if his voice has officially crossed over into Tom Waits/Bob Dylan "acquired taste" territory. In either case, I don’t think Hiatt has much of a choice in the matter. I’m partial to the new stuff and look forward to seeing how the fresh material gets conveyed and folded into the massive Hiatt catalogue when he and a new band he’s dubbing the Ageless Beauties come to the Pantages on June 28.
John Hiatt
Same Old Man
New West
**** (four stars)
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