The opening line to Lowe’s lively rumination on mortality, Checkout Time, makes reference to his current age, and there’s something refreshingly honest about a 61-year-old actually writing about being 61. Other musicians of his vintage (and beyond) may still want to sing about hot young things igniting their ardour, but Lowe is clearly more attuned to calling upon the wisdom of his years to tell a story.
He’s been making records since the late 60s (his teenage efforts as a member of Kippington Lodge are reviewed above), and it’s fair to assume he’s settled on an approach and style over his last five albums, beginning with 1994’s The Impossible Bird, that he’ll stick with until he finally falls off his perch. The Old Magic is a beautifully apt title, Lowe comfortably bunkered in a land of literate country and elegant soul; the sweet spot where Gram Parsons meets Nat ‘King’ Cole.
The innate simplicity of the arrangements leaves wide open spaces for the words to breathe, be they concerned with foolhardy lovers’ apologies (Stoplight Roses), the loneliness of the recently dumped (I Read A Lot) or moving on at the end of a relationship (House For Sale). That’s not to suggest it’s all doom and gloom in Nickworld; he’s high on happiness on the Cajun-like shuffle of Somebody Cares For Me and full of hope on the soulfully sparkiling ’Til The Real Thing Comes Along.
