Steve Earle / Washington Square Serenade (New West)

©Michael Koster, November 2007

Steve Earle is in love. Gone are his angry political rants and grating guitars of the past few years, replaced by pretty acoustic melodies and autobiographical lyrics of life and love. (Earle recently tied the knot with singer Allison Moorer, who contributes lovely background vocals.) The nostalgic and emotionally charged “Tennessee Blues,” which kicks off the record, chronicles Earle’s journey from Nashville to his new home in NYC and firmly establishes the theme of change from the get-go. This followed by "Down Here Below," an odd bird composed of spoken word verses and harmonious Moorer-heavy choruses. The mood shifts abruptly by the third cut, "Satellite Radio," a tongue-in-cheek take on the grizzled songwriter’s gig as an Air America DJ. “Satellite's” canned beats may be a little disorienting to longtime fans (the disc was, after all, produced by the ever-hip John King of the Dust Brothers), but to these ears it doesn’t sound overly crass or pandering. I don't think Earle's ever cut a record on which there wasn’t at least one song for the ages. Here it's "Steve's Hammer,” an impossibly catchy anthem written in honor of Pete Seeger, replete with a big feelgood sing-along chorus and leftist lyrics. Normally I’d balance this review with some negative comments, but there really isn’t a weak track on the disc. If anything, you may find yourself missing the sharp wit and stinging sarcasm that has infused so much of Earle's past work. But it is precisely this ability to get utterly lost in the moment—in this case his own good feelings—that makes Washington Square Serenade such a fine record.