"The Convincer" - Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe is not exactly a household name. Even to music connoisseurs of some knowledge he is mostly known for his 80s pop (his biggest hit was "Cruel To Be Kind") and his production work with Elvis Costello, Dave Edmunds & others. But some of his strongest work has been the albums he has been releasing on a regular basis since the mid-90's, when he realized that he didn't want to be an aging rocker pretending that the new wave was still happening. Instead, he took the route of quieter, more acoustic and more countryish songs. The resulting albums have been consistently rewarding in their depth, original songs and choice covers. The results remind me a bit of Charlie Rich, actually, generally classified as a Country singer (the genre where he had his biggest hits, i.e. "Behind Closed Doors") but an artist with a lot more soul and depth than your average Country singer.

The album being discussed here is "The Convincer," released in 2001. This is the third album available in a 3-CD set called the "Brentford Trilogy," which also has the equally worthy predecessor albums ("The Impossible Bird" and "Dig My Mood"). While Nick Lowe's songwriting skills are nothing to sneeze at, my two favourite tracks are actually both covers. The first is the heartbreaking "Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart," which has a tender, almost lullaby-like arrangement which is somehow pretty and painful at the same time. The other is "Poor Side Of Town," which was a #1 hit for Johnny Rivers in the late 60s and tells the story of a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who had ditched her poor boyfriend only to realize the error of her ways. By the end of the song they realize that they can get out of the poor side of town, together. Lowe's cover of the latter song is fairly faithful to the original, whereas his cover of "Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart"is quite different from the various versions that I've listened to since I heard Lowe's version (and actually more moving).

As far as originals go, the intriguing "Indian Queens" grabbed my attention. It is the lament of an inveterate rogue who has traveled the world but desires to return to "Indian Queens". After hearing the song, I was more than curious to know if this is a real place. And lo and behold, it is a village in England where Pocahontas may or may not have been. One of the few uptempo songs is the Rockabillyish and humorous "Has She Got A Friend?" which asks the obvious question: 'sure, your new girl is great, but I've heard enough about her, does she have a friend?!'. "The Convincer" of the title is surely the narrator of the penultimate track of the album, the explicitly seductive "Let's Stay In And Make Love".

If you like intelligent and varied roots music, be sure to give this album a listen.