Loudon Wainwright III
Older Than My Old Man Now
(Story Sound Records)

Mortality blossoms as the years pass regardless of whether you deny it or stare it down like Loudon Wainwright III does on his new album, Older Than My Old Man Now. And luckily he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, because just like aging itself, looking in life’s rear view mirror isn’t always a pretty sight.

This album is one of the most honest and affecting works I’ve heard in years as Wainwright tackles his past and his present adding spoken word interludes like profound journal entries, which linger and provoke long after the music ends.  He deals with specifics in the songs like the ghost of his father, the guilt of outliving his ex-wife, and the troubled relationships he’s had with his children, which make the music feel more like a personal and authentic coming-to-terms that just happens to work well as music for us too.

Loudon appropriately features all three of his musical children on the album with Rufus joining him on the moving “The Days That We Die,” which features a very insightful introduction. Lucy then joins him on the fantastic “All In The Family,” which is in a sense a bookend with his other daughter Martha who performs in her mother’s role on a gorgeous rendition of the timeless “Over The Hill.”

The album makes an impact like no other thanks to the deep thoughts, the great humor especially “I Remember Sex” with Dame Edna, and the gorgeous melodies. It is, without question, one of Loudon’s best.