After two decades of outsourcing the producing and arranging of his records to everyone from Mark Knopfler to Daniel Lanois, Bob Dylan stopped phoning it in in the '00s and began directly shaping their sound and feel. As producer of TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE, he elevates the near-cliche material with a beautifully crafted latticework of breathy border-town accordion and smoky guitar riffs (courtesy of Los Lobos's David Hidalgo and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell respectively), steel guitar, mandolin, and brushed drums. Initially intended as a soundtrack of an Olivier Drahan movie, the album finds a pleasantly off-hand bard building on the wistful romanticism of recent ballads (like MODERN TIMES's "Beyond the Horizon") with a cycle of songs (nine of them co-written with legendary Dead lyricist Robert Hunter) about dreaming, hoping, and good love. Indeed, the change in "I Feel A Change Comin' On" is not of the apocalyptic hard rain variety, but portends a potential tryst as Dylan chimes "life is for love" with uncharacteristic sweetness. Via languid slow burns ("Forgetful Heart"), sensual grooves ("If You Ever Go To Houston"), and loping blues walkarounds ("Jolene"), TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE plays like a great date night in a Texas dancehall--perfect for lovers tired of talking, who just want to grab hold and sway.

• Genre: Rock
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 04/28/2009