By Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO
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4 out of 4 stars
Six years on from his last, with a white beard grown, Browne delivers elegantly considered weight and truth. If well crafted satires about Iraq and New orleans - The Drums Of War and Where Were You - lean on receding topicality, his longer-view ruminations are built to last. His grand yet unpretentious imagery shows why he's admired by such diverse peers as Springsteen and Randy Newman.
Metaphors don't come more apt then Browne's vision of individuality among the human multitude "where every blade of grass is casting its own shadow" (the title track) or his summation of emotional life as a solitary quest for companionship, "endless flight through the failing light" (The Arms Of Night).
Throughout, his band plays with subdued beauty and Browne sings with resonant grace - abetted by two strikingly sensative new backing vocalists, Chavonne Morris and Alethea Mills.
Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO
