Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me
by: Justin Townes Earle
(Bloodshot Records)
Recorded live at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, North Carolina, Justin Townes Earle's Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now retains a soulful Memphis sensibility. This counts as his fifth studio album.
Earle is the son of Steve Earle. Earle the younger grew up in Nashville. He soaked up the musical influences there like a sponge. This album ranks as a straight-forward country-soul collection. On the opening track, "Am I That Lonely Tonight", Earle sings about hearing his father on the radio. On "Look The Other Way" he writes about being down on his luck and trying "to be a better man".
The title track emits traces of melancholy, and an unavoidable reality concerning someone he once loved. Each song packs a punch on this 30-minute album...there's a strength in the stripped-down music approach. "Baby's Got A Bad Idea" rocks along with a brass section, barrel house piano and side-winding guitar.
"Maria" resembles the music of Booker T & The MGs, but Earle's lyrics indicate a lover that has disappeared like smoke. Earle wrote all of the songs on this album except the jazzy soul number titled "Down On The Lower East Side", which he co-wrote with Dustin Welch of the Swindlers. "Won't Be The Last Time" emerges as a country-folk number that's one of the best tunes on this collection.
"Memphis In The Rain" touches on the classic soul sound once again, but this one causes sonic rejoicing...best heard driving down McClemore Avenue or Beale Street. "Unfortunately Anna", another sapphire, tells a vivid and sad tale of a girl caught in the same old game.
The last cut on the album--"Move On"--finds Earle in all his songwriting glory...all the bloodlines converge in these lines and beats. Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now adds another compelling piece of testimony to the true brilliance of Earle's songwriting.
James Calemine
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