John Prine
For Better, or Worse

Album Release Date: September 30th, 2016

John Prine is one of America's best living singer-songwriters, whose poignant, emotionally impactful and often humourous songs have continued to resonate with audiences since his emergence in the early 1970s. Indeed, when none other than Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Roger Waters have declared you to be one of their favourite songwriters, you know you've done something right. For Better, or Worse is Prine's first album in 9 years (excluding compilation and live albums), a collection of duets with exclusively female guest stars singing covers of classic country songs.

This isn't Prine's first such outing. After a bout with throat cancer in 1999 he recorded the similar In Spite of Ourselves, an album of vintage country ditties with an all-star cast of female singers. And in 2013 he overcame lung cancer, so it seems he perhaps finds some kind of comfort and sustenance in revisiting these country oldies following traumatic health incidents. The classic tunes here were previously written or recorded by country music legends of a bygone era, the likes of Loretta Lynn, Ernest Tubb, and Connie Francis—as well as three songs by Hank Williams (whose granddaughter Holly Williams is featured on "I'm Tellin' You"). The guest stars range from current Nashville darlings Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves, to respected outsiders like Morgane Stapleton and Amanda Shires, to aging veterans like Kathy Mattea and Lee Ann Womack. Only Iris Dement and Fiona Prine—John's wife of 20 years—return from In Spite of Ourselves.

Following Prine's first round of cancer, for which he underwent major surgery, his vocals were noticeably changed; a little slurred, more gravelly, and lower in tone than previously. But since he's never been noted for his singing voice per se—belonging more so in the Dylan school of nasal-inflected, raspy-voiced folksters—this hasn't made a negative impact on his performances. In fact, with classic material like this, his coarse voice is actually kind of an asset as it enhances the humble everyman relatability that he's always had.

The album's 15 songs are all about love, unsurprisingly. Opener "Who's Gonna Take the Garbage Out", originally performed by Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn, is one of many tunes here that emulate classic country song conventions. Iris Dement plays the wife to Prine as the husband, humourously exchanging barbs back and forth. He sings "I take too much abuse from you, that's all I ever get", to which she responds "Yeah, callin' a man like you a husband is just like callin' a wildcat a pet". She throws him out of the house with accusations of cheating, which he denies and asks her, in his biggest defense, "But who's gonna take the garbage out when I've packed my bags and gone?"

Many of the songs are about heartbreak and love unrequited, such as Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" with Miranda Lambert, and romantic longing, as in "My Happiness" with Fiona Prine. And others, like Vince Gill's 1991 song "Look At Us" (the album's most recently written song) with Morgane Stapleton, are affectionate celebrations of love fulfilled. A big highlight is a simple arrangement of "Falling in Love Again", first made famous by Marlene Dietrich in the 1930s. Bluegrass queen Allison Krauss guest stars here, her sweet voice contrasting Prine's husky vocals to bittersweet effect and capturing the beauty, complexity, and contradictory nature of love. Waylon Jennings' "Storms Never Last" with Lee Ann Womack is one of the album's more optimistic songs that, as the title implies, employs weather metaphors to examine a rocky relationship that promises to work out, with a chorus of "Storms never last, do they, baby? / Bad times all pass like the wind / Your hand in mind stills the thunder / And you make the sun want to shine".

The songs conjure images of slowdancing in a southern, dimly lit honky-tonk saloon some 60 years ago, with twangy country guitar and fiddle riffs complementing the vocals. It evokes tragedy and heartache while simultaneously displaying a warmhearted sense of forgiveness and letting go. The many female voices weave a tapestry through traditional codes of love and romance, effectively exploring this aspect of Americana through passionate singing and pure, unadorned music production. And Prine anchors the journey as the lone male voice, accompanying his women guests with graciousness and ease. At 70-years-old, every lyric he sings comes off as a plain, universal truth delivered with neighbourly, worldly-wise conviction. Alternating between embodying a melancholy storyteller invoking heartbreaking loss and a bright-eyed narrator reveling in romantic bliss, John Prine tells us that, ultimately, every experience in love is valuable in the end, For Better, or Worse.
• Nik Dobrinsky / Boy Drinks Ink
October 30th, 2016