Six years on from his last album, Nick Lowe continues to hone the laconic style that’s served him so well recently. At My Age bears the expected hallmarks of assured songcraft and subtle instrumentation. It’s clearly the work of a mature mind and voice, but still infused with the knowing pop sensibilities of someone who, beyond his own four-decades career, sparked the early flames of Elvis Costello and The Pretenders.
Lowe the producer is firmly established in rock history, and here we have a reminder of the great tunesmith and singer. There’s Hope For Us All is a tender soul shuffle, The Club benefits from the chick-a-boom strut of the early work of his former father-inlaw Johnny Cash, and Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day perfects the tricky task of blending Sam Cooke, Willie Nelson and Dusty Springfield into one impossibly seductive three-minute tune.
If Lowe has a 21st Century contemporary, it would be Richard Hawley, a man who shares his passion for simple, timeless pop classicism, and is also unafraid to embrace bygone musical shirts of many a varied stripe. Lowe once wittily named his touring band The Last Chicken In The Shop, but he’s still more than capable of delivering the freshest fare imaginable.
