Jeff McCord on the month’s new releases

Steve Earle

Washington Square Serenade

New West

(Listen)

Don’t expect to pick right up on the acrid leftist dogma of 2004’s The Revolution Starts . . . Now. The new Steve Earle album, Washington Square Serenade (New West), finds the singer’s head in a completely different place. Relocated to NYC and happily wed to singer Allison Moorer (marriage number seven, if you’re keeping score at home), the Schertz-raised musician is finally conquering some of his demons. Relieved to have left Nashville for less hostile political waters, Earle seems to draw strength and even contentment from New York. “Down Here Below,” a masterful everything-changes-but-life-goes-on tribute to the city, begins with a hawk “from the tip-top of the food chain” surveying Central Park and thinking, “God, I love this town.” Earle’s life has been famously messy, and his politics are too ingrained for him to abandon them, but this is a songwriter’s record; the emphasis is not so much on what he says but how he says it. There are love songs, duets, a Tom Waits cover (the latest theme to HBO’s The Wire ; Earle also acts in the show), and a telling promise: “One of these days I’m gonna lay this hammer down.”

Iron and Wine

The Shepherd’s Dog

Sub Pop

Onetime film professor Sam Beam, who makes his records under the nom de plume Iron and Wine (and at his home in Dripping Springs), began his career tentatively, whispering confessional tales over meager accompaniment. But he’s gained confidence and ambition over the years, so much so that The Shepherd’s Dog (Sub Pop) hardly seems like the work of the same artist. Over a lush, holographic soundscape, Beam juxtaposes odd instrumentation with weird clatters and noises to create a set of compelling, slowly spooling romantic narratives. He’s upfront about his musical inspirations—albums like R.E.M.’s Reckoning, for example—and cites Swordfishtrombones, by Tom Waits (apparently this month’s muse), as a big influence. Yet Beam doesn’t imitate. You can hear Waits in the jumble of instruments and the strange vocal treatments, but the end result is much more accessible, resembling seventies pop or, at times, Brian Wilson. With such a quiet vocal style and a tendency to bury his singing, Beam gives his music an urgency and mystery that might otherwise be absent. It just sounds like the stories are worth your attention. Almost always, they are.

Eisley

Combinations

Reprise

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By now, the novelty of the small-town family band Eisley has worn off; it’s not enough that the five youngsters learned to play because they had little else to do or that they went from their parents’ Tyler coffee-house to Madison Square Garden in 2003. Combinations (Reprise) is album two, and it’s the proverbial time to deliver. That they do: The disc’s first three songs certainly make for a powerhouse triple play. Still, Eisley is a tough sell. The DuPree sisters’ sibling harmonies remain a marvel, yet these lovely, youthful voices are an incongruous fit with the band’s hard-rock backing. When they try a softer sound, the music falls flat. So what’s a band to do? Soldier on. This conflict is of course what also makes Eisley unique, and as long as its members can avoid unicorn cuteness in their lyrics (they do) and deliver occasional thrilling, muscular winners like “Many Funerals,” “Invasion,” and “Taking Control,” they’ve got a long road ahead. And if not, Chauntelle, the eldest of the group, is only 25; there’s still plenty of time for all of them to plot a career change.

Billy Joe Shaver

Photograph by David McClister

For his first all-gospel release, Everybody’s Brother, the 68-year-old outlaw country legend assembled a cast that includes Tanya Tucker, Kris Kristofferson, and John Carter Cash.