After 20 studio albums from this to his first back in 1974 – all of them of a certain wolfish quality – John Hiatt must surely be approaching national treasure status in the US.
Astonishingly then, not least as this is his seventh new album in the past 10 years, Hiatt continues to come up with gold in hands.
The quintessential purveyor of quality Americana, his songs mine a deep seam of influences, from razor-sharp R&B to blue-collar soul, a splash of Tex Mex, a hefty dollop of country and various shades of good ole boy rock’n’roll. If you dig Hiatt you’ll go pie-eyed over this.
Sandwiched between two top-drawer tracks in the growling, go-for-your-guns opener, Damn This Town, to the genuinely moving closer and paean to the mind-blowing aftermath of 9⁄11, When New York Had Her Heart Broke, you don’t need to have bourbon in your bloodstream to appreciate this stuff – but it sure won’t hurt ya none.