Washington Square Serenade
New West
Who needs Bruce Springsteen when we’ve got Steve Earle? The former Nashville-based singer/songwriter has even relocated to New York, just a stone’s throw from Bruce’s beloved New Jersey. The two have a lot in common musically, though Earle has never enjoyed The Boss’s mega-success and overzealous fan base. In a saner world, perhaps he would have. But then again Springsteen has never been addicted to heroin or spent four months in jail on drug charges like Earle did in 1994. Earle’s 12th studio album is dedicated to his new hometown and named after a neighborhood that hatched the ‘60s folk revolution. His sound has been updated a touch with the help of John King, known for producing Beck. Several tracks— “Satellite Radio” and a cover of Tom Waits’ “Way Down in the Hole”—have a beats-driven hip-hop feel. The other ten tracks are what you might expect from Earle—rootsy numbers like “Down Here Below” and “Jericho Road,” with the singer doubling (like Bruce) on harp. The album’s most inventive song, “City of Immigrants,” features acoustic Brazilian band Forro in the Dark and lyrics you might expect from a newbie New Yorker: “All of us are immigrants /Every daughter, every son /Everyone is everyone.”
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