The Horses and The Hound (New West, 2021)

Parents often seem larger than life to their kids, but talk about a large shadow. James McMurtry's father, Larry wrote novels that were both literary and popular (Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment). James' mother also wrote books and taught college English. So it's pretty clear where all this was headed when James got his first guitar in the late 60s at age seven - the Texas boy was raised to sing with heart and paint with words.

Signed to Columbia, the label lost patience for the big hit some 30 years ago, but smaller ones have taken him in, and McMurtry still makes a living as a traveling troubadour now 13 albums in.

The songs on "The Horses and the Hounds" have been brewing for quite a while as it's been seven years since McMurtry's last release. The writing is finely hewn. An instant highlight is the opener, "Canola Fields" – it has geography and time sweeping through its lyrical quest for a lost lover. The poetry lines are so clean and true. When McMurtry sings about a long-ago Brooklyn where "you carried your keys in your fist," you know what he means. This album is a master class in lyrical compression – conveying time, place and motivation with just a few penned words.

Musically we're often in the early '90s - quick stabs of electric guitar that evoke indie rock or power pop. It works well. There's plenty of drive, while leaving space for the tasty words to fit snuggly in their own musical cubbyholes. Without any slow-dance ballads, just take in all these miniature movies. Highlights include stories about a lady trucker ("Jackie"), a prisoner wrestling regret ("Decent Man") and a wonderful personal mission statement we could all copy ("If It Don't Bleed").

McMurtry wasn't going to record at Jackson Browne's California studio without at least some politics creeping in (he's repulsed by modern warfare from a distance in "Operation Never Mind"). But mostly the songs are wistful, about surprises that life brings. Sometimes the biggest one of all is how fast the ride goes, or suddenly stops. What are "The Horses and the Hounds" of the title? Well, it's time and trouble and death coming for us all. But McMurtry won't dwell on big concerns without humorously bringing us back to earth. See the chorus of "Ft. Walton Wake-up Call," where the narrator repeats again and again: "I keep losing my glasses!"