Covering Fleetwood Mac's biggest hit is a tall order, even for a performer and interpreter as gifted as Justin Townes Earle. But that's exactly what he does on the centrepiece track of All In: Unreleased & Rarities (The New West Years), released four years after his decades-long struggle with addiction came to a tragic end.Sure, the gone-too-soon-alt-country star was praised for giving a twangy twist to the Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" on his 2009 breakout Midnight at the Movies. And there's of course his Grammy winning, Americana legend father Steve Earle, who made a comeback around the same time with an album of covers penned by his Outlaw Country cohort Townes Van Zandt, who Steve named his son after.But can Townes Earle's take really hold a candle to Stevie Nicks's searing, soaring songbird coos on "Dreams"? Turns out, it doesn't really need to — with more subdued singing that sounds less like heartbreak and more like resignation to the inevitable, Earle's version forgoes the original's pristine production and intricate riffs for a downtrodden acoustic guitar waltz that's country through and through. And while "Dreams" is renowned for its tabloid drama backdrop, Earle also sang about dreams of loneliness on numerous deep cuts before his promising career was so bitterly cut short, adding a new dimension to this classic. In his hands, it becomes something new entirely — no small feat.Other covers on All In… include a more straightforward performance of Paul Simon's "Graceland," renditions of favorites by Americana elder John Prine and Sun Records legend Jackie Brenston, and — more memorably— Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days." Earle's take on the Boss classic is every bit as successful as his "Dreams" revamp, paring the Born in the U.S.A. chart topper of its fist pumping tone and jangling riffs, until "Glory Days" becomes a dirge about bittersweet nostalgia, far more in keeping with the lyrics that Springsteen slyly masked with radio-ready melodies. Earle's vocal fits and starts give the song a tense unpredictability, like waves of tears that can barely be choked back. Not only is this true to the song's lyricism, but also many of Earle's own ballads, which at the time sounded like singularly tenderhearted laments that many hardcore fans now worry were cries for help.Aside from some of the most boldly inventive covers to come out of Americana since Sturgill Simpson's downcast rendition of Nirvana's "In Bloom," All In… also boasts unreleased and unvarnished acoustic tracks that should've seen the light of day much sooner, especially on the LP's front end. Opener "Cold Comfort" has minimalist strumming and a straightforward, catchy refrain. But like all of Earle's best upbeat songs (a trick he took from Springsteen's book), you'll be humming "Cold Comfort" long after the runtime ends, only to have the devastating themes subtly sink in (in this case, being so scorned by an ex that you'd rather they no longer cared for you at all).Another standout: the puttering rhythm of his acoustic strumming on "Already Gone," the music coinciding with Earle's lyrics about slogging through chores to take his mind off the sound of his beloved packing her bags, even though she mentally checked out long before that. The concept and chorus are worthy successors to classic country downers that border on the comedic (he says so explicitly on the last verse), all of which is furthered by Justin's jaunty playing. But a particular lyric— "I can't help but wonder now just where it all went wrong" — quickly and cuttingly reminds the listener of the pathos that he's trying to process.He goes for the same effect on "Troubled Eyes," but it unfortunately lacks both the hints of melancholy and the wit of those better, earlier tracks. Thankfully, the other unreleased tracks make plain Earle's songwriting gifts. His frequent motif, falling head over heels into heartache, can be found on the short story worthy lyrics of "I Know You" (watch out for the twist at the end). And Stevie Nicks would surely approve of the dreams he sings about on "Lonely Mornings." Most moving of all: Earle's bittersweet ode to his daughter on "All or Nothing." Rough demos alongside album versions of deep cuts from his underrated last album, The Saint of Lost Causes, also give a valuable peek into how he built up acoustic songs into full-fledged, band-backed numbers with polished production. If only he'd overcome his demons, finished these fine songs and enjoyed the accolades they surely would have garnered. Justin Townes Earle fans were robbed of that deserved future, but at least we can make do with this collection of songs that bookends an exceptional career that should have gone on so much longer.
Wavelength
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