Few punk-era icons have emerged with even half the grace of Nick Lowe, and fewer still have made music in their dotage that compares favorably with that of their raging youth. On this set, Lowe continues down a path he’s been strolling for fifteen years, transporting himself to the Memphis and Muscle Shoals of the late 1960s and conjuring the most delightful cross-section of deep southern soul and classic country. Wiser than before (“A Better Man”) but meaner than ever (“I Trained Her to Love Me”), he reels off one shoulda-been-a-classic after another, none better than “Hope For Us All,” a wistful reverie by a man of a certain age who finds love when he least expects it. An exquisite album.