The ever-prolific Daniel Hutchens may be best known as the leader of the long-lived Bloodkin, but he’s also contributed important songs to the catalog of fellow Athens, Ga., rockers Widespread Panic. On this, his third solo effort, he continues to deliver desolate, brooding comments on life’s darker side, steeped in sin and soul. Aching pedal steel and spectral organ support Hutchens’ tortured vocals on “American Country Ghosts,” the story of a coke addict caring for his terminally ill mother. “Epitaph Town” is a funky rocker, driven by screaming, distorted guitars and a punishing backbeat. Here, he sings the praises of self-destruction with a tone balanced between regret and hollow laughter. Hutchens shows off his literary side on “Tearing Up the Tiles,” a punchy, uptempo tune that references two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe before dropping a snide reference to “The Raven” into the last verse. The bad news is delivered in a more straightforward manner on “All Golden Traces,” a grim ballad supported by swells of distorted electric guitar noise and a moaning pedal steel. Hutchens walks a friend through the house he once shared with his lover, which finds him haunted by the memories that cling to everything around him. He sums up the sting of loss when he sighs, “It seems like the hardest thing is you remembering happy things.”