Nick Lowe
Dig My Mood-25th Anniversary Edition
(Yep Roc)
4 out of 5 stars
Second acts in rock and roll are rarely as radical or successful as Nick Lowe’s. Once a retro-oriented roots/pop rocker whose work with Dave Edmunds in Rockpile, and through a series of rollicking, wry, and energetic solo albums that got an auspicious start with 1978s Jesus of Cool, Lowe altered his music as he aged into his mid-40s. The Impossible Bird (1994), recorded for a new label, dispensed with rock to concentrate on beautifully hewed soulful country, classic pop, and jazz/blues-inflected material highlighting Lowe’s emotional voice and strong melodic sense. The focus was on lost, fading, or unrequited love. While he didn’t score any hits, (his lone chart entry was a one-off “Cruel to Be Kind” in 1979), the album was critically hailed and embraced by his cult fans who, like Lowe, were also aging and likely mellowing.
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Four years later, he doubled down on this revised musical approach with the appropriately titled Dig My Mood (1998), and he has stuck with it for similarly styled albums appearing less and less frequently (there have only been five since, plus a few EPs and a Christmas set).
Dig My Mood now gets its 25th anniversary upgrade (digital and vinyl, no CD), with remastered audio and five additions, four of which are live versions of older tunes. Even without the extras, it’s well worth revisiting. If the definition of a “classic” is something that sounds as fresh decades after its release as when it was first available, this easily clears that threshold.
Lowe’s stripped-down accompaniment and crooner approach could easily have slipped into schlock, but his sincerity, vocal tone, and the quality of generally downbeat songs such as “What Lack of Love Has Done,” “Lonesome Reverie” “Faithless Lover” and “Man That I’ve Become” (all on the terrific career overview recap, Quiet Please: The New Best of Nick Lowe in 2009) are examples of the rather dejected nature of the album. Regardless of the lyrical slant, Lowe’s knack for constructing a song you can sing after a single spin is palpable. There are some lighter moments too, specifically in the gauzy love song “You Inspire Me,” which appears to be written for Frank Sinatra, the late Tony Bennett, or others of their ilk.
Lowe’s astute wordplay remains unpredictable and sharp throughout, singing in “I Must Be Getting Over You,” I did not sense your perfume / Like I always do / I must be getting over you implying the opposite. He goes country blues for a closing cover of Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Cold Gray Light of Dawn” complete with countrypolitan violins bringing a ’60s, George Jones feeling to the version.
The additional five tracks don’t add up to much. Three are solo acoustic renditions recorded live in Japan that aren’t anything special. An upbeat “I’ll Give You All Night to Stop,” which might have been cut from the disc, doesn’t fit with the album’s more laid-back sensibilities, nor does the jaunty concert take on “Half a Boy and Half a Man” which is pleasant enough but seems like an audience recorded cassette.
Those who haven’t been exposed to the charms of Dig My Mood can now revel in the multiple talents of Nick Lowe, an ex-pop rocker determined to age gracefully, stylishly, and as tastefully as he does here.
Photo by Martyn Goodacre/Redferns