Nick Lowe - At My Age

At My Age isn't much different than what Nick Lowe has been doing for the past decade and a half—slick country spiked with blue-eyed soul—but in his 58th year, the silver-haired, wrinkly Lowe sounds younger than he has in a long, long time. The august wit that peppered his early solo career as precursor to the angry young men of the new wave era (where would Elvis Costello be without Nick Lowe?) has subsided almost completely, and Lowe has settled comfortably into more classic songwriting, building walls of light, wispy soul and country on his deeply-rooted pop foundations. No boundary-pushing here, but all of the dozen tracks (three are covers, including the Charlie Feathers classic "Man In Love") show Lowe's songwriting in top form, proving that he's fared better than a lot of the musical old fogeys of his generation. [www.nicklowe.co.uk]