Midnight Gasoline (Warner Nashville, 2025)

The last time Jamey Johnson released a full length album of original songs, the original Ipad was only a few months old, and Instagram had not yet launched. Basically, a lifetime ago. Since 2010's "The Guitar Song," we've had a 2012 Hank Cochran tribute album, a Christmas EP and a couple of singles.

So, fair or not, "Midnight Gasoline" will be perceived as a comeback album. The good news is Johnson has not lost anything as a lyricist. There are some great metaphors and clever turns of phrase all through this album.

The problem, if there is one, is that of pacing. All of the songs, with the exception of the cover version of Charlie Daniels's classic "Trudy" are slow to mid tempo. Even a song that seems like it should rock a little, judging by the title, like "Saturday Night in New Orleans" does not do so.

Which is fine. As Johnson himself says on the opening track "It's my song to write / This one ain't about you / It goes whatever way I want." Which is undeniable, and it works on the cry in your beer tracks like "No Time Like the Past" or crying without any beer songs like "Sober." But this lack of energy does seem to sap some of the emotion out of songs that aim higher. We never really feel the grief the Gold Star parents no doubt experience on "21 Guns," and because of that, their pride never really comes across. A similar lack of oomph leaves "Bad Guy" feeling more defensive than defiant, which was its apparent objective.

That being said, there's enough here to prove that Johnson has indeed come back. "Someday When I'm Old" is a standout that starts out as a lighthearted look at the advantages of advanced age such as parking wherever you damn well please and spoiling your grandkids, but turns unexpectedly tender at the end. "What a View" compares the visage of his beloved to Paris to the City of Lights's disadvantage. A slight hint at disapproval of personal pronoun preferences only slightly mars the anthemic "What You Answer To." And the title track about driving around as a distraction from heartbreak definitely seems a shoo-in for inclusion on any Best of Jamie Johnson album that may lie in the future.

All in all, there's more than enough here to make us hope that we won't have to wait another 14 years for the next album.