LYLE LOVETT

LYLE LOVETT
THE ROAD TO ENSENADA (1996)
320 KBPS

After the more experimental themes and misanthropic bit players populating his prior album, I Love Everybody, the songs on this superb 1996 set return to the more affable, earnest, but still knotty balance established by Lyle Lovett on his first four albums. He spins amiable yarns about his preferred headgear ("Don't Touch My Hat") and larger-than-life love objects (the one-eyed "Fiona"), sways hilariously through the backfired seductions of the samba-paced "Her First Mistake," and swings buoyantly through "That's Right (You're Not from Texas)," then ropes the equally droll Randy Newman into a tongue-in-cheek duet on "Long Tall Texan." In between, he sneaks a fresh string of dark love songs ("Private Conversation," "I Can't Love You Anymore") that sustain his formidable standards. Forget the forced issue of his putative ties to "new country": Lovett is simply one of the best American singer-songwriters extant, whether playing raconteur, philosopher king, or wounded romantic.

1. Don't Touch My Hat
2. Her First Mistake
3. Fiona
4. That's Right (You're Not from Texas)
5. Who Loves You Better
6. Private Conversation
7. Promises
8. It Ought to Be Easier
9. I Can't Love You Anymore
10. Long Tall Texan
11. Christmas Morning
12. Road to Ensenada