‘Until Justice Is Real’ rocks with Leisz’s slide pushing the attack on a tune that asks us “What is democracy? What is the deal?”. On ‘The Dreamer’, he revisits the Latin/Mexican rhythms he has often returned to with fluttering Spanish guitar lines and lyrics about an immigrant being sent back to Mexico, concluding, “And the walls that we've built between us /Keep us prisoners of our fear”, another common Browne theme. And doing it with cowbell, reviving that much maligned 70s artefact for added punch.Ĭonceptually, Browne stays true to his activist heart in material that conveys messages without knocking the listener over the head with them.

Lyrics of “I've been walkin' that broken line between/The way life is and the way it seems”, reexamine classic Browne territory, questioning his place in society as he did in The Pretender. Early single ‘My Cleveland Heart’ rocks out with a tempo similar to earlier work like ‘Boulevard’ or ‘For a Dancer’ as Greg Leisz’s lap steel fills the void left by David Lindley’s absence. “Don't know that I'll find it… If all I find is freedom, it's alright,” he sings with a knowing nod to both his advancing age and extensive career. Opener ‘Still Looking for Something’ sets the tone by its title alone. But on this, his 15th set of originals, he nails a successful middle ground. That has been a tougher balance for him to maintain. The trick has been to incorporate that socio-political stance into folk-rock songs which resonate musically as well. Those who have followed Browne know he has been politically outspoken from his late 70s No Nukes days to the present. Browne’s voice hasn’t aged a day since that era, and musically, this late-in-life entry to a stunning near five-decade catalog (his debut appeared in 1972) is as warm, lyrically articulate and musically compelling as any he has recorded. Without looking at a recent photo of Jackson Browne, it’s easy to mistake this new album - the first in six years - for one recorded during his 70s/80s prime.

Jackson browne downhill from everywhere