Truly the last of the “hardcore troubadours” that he once sang so passionately about, Steve Earle is the embodiment of the wayward son come good. At 58 he has weathered drug addiction and jail-time, producing a body of work that has always been politically relevant.

His latest album finds him gazing forlornly out of the window of his metaphorical pick-up truck (or more likely tour bus), contemplating the state of the US nation in 2013. Not surprisingly, what he sees ain’t pretty. And yet he voices his unease with an eloquence and anger that is utterly compelling. While he has shifted stylistic gear several times over the years, here Earle combines the best of his musical strengths. The Low Highway also reunites Earl with co-producer Ray Kennedy along with a stellar cast of musicians.
The title-track sees him ruminating on the shattered economy. He sings of food lines and “the broken windows of the factories.” Musically and lyrically, there are echoes of Springsteen’s ‘Ghost Of Tom Joad’, itself inspired by the Great Depression.
Earle’s lived-in voice has never sounded better than on ‘After Mardi Gras’, where he bemoans that “happy people everywhere make it hard to sing the blues.” ‘Is That All You Got’, a duet with his wife Alison Moorer, is a swampy Cajun-esque blues with accordion.
Elsewhere, the rollicking ‘Down The Road Pt II’ has a ‘Copperhead Road’ feel; the smouldering ‘21st Century Blues’ harks back to his mid-’90s album, I Feel Alright; and ‘Warren Hellman’s Banjo’ is a bluegrass tune that sounds like an authentic Civil War ditty.
The best song on the album (and the least typical) is the poignant ‘Invisible’ – sung from the viewpoint of a New York homeless person and featuring what sounds like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy (uncredited) on vocals. A stunning, moving moment on an album full of high points.

Key Track: ‘Invisible’