No one should object if the old man just wants to go out to the woodshed and play some blues.
Longtime fans and neophytes will all probably be grateful for the economical punch provided by Together Through Life, the bard's new studio effort, to be released without further ado April 28. Overtaken by a gush of inspiration after penning “Life Is Hard," a Django Reinhardt-kissed meditation on loneliness, for the upcoming Olivier Dahan film My Own Love Song, Dylan wrote this bunch of fairly direct and visceral tunes. He enlisted some buddies -- an interview with scribe Bill Flanagan on Dylan's website mentions Tom Petty's longtime guitarist Mike Campbell and Los Lobos cofounder David Hidalgo -- and hit on a sound that returns to -- and refreshes - - the roots of rock and roll.
I was lucky enough to attend a listening session Thursday night, where I sat on a comfy sofa in front of a good sound system and scribbled down some notes on the 10-song set. I got one listen. Here's a quick response.
Beyond Here Lies Nothin':
Hidalgo's accordion is Dylan's muse throughout this album. The instrument turns what would be Jimmy Reed-style blues into something more wide-ranging: a celebration of the Latin influence that also shaped early rock. There's something Leonard Cohen- esque about Dylan's lyric, which is deeply existential and exceedingly debonair.
Life is Hard:
Dylan apparently loved Dahan's Edith Piaf story “La Vie en Rose," and agreed to pen this song for the filmmaker's “My Own Love Song." It has a French feel, with a guitar line redolent of le jazz hot and sly references to a boulevard of broken dreams. Dylan's sad “Sea of Love," it represents him as a slightly cracked crooner.
