Airline Highway (New West, 2025)

2025 has been a big year already for Rodney Crowell. In addition to "Oh What a Beautiful World," Willie Nelson's acclaimed album of Crowell covers, he was also inducted into the prestigious Texas Institute of Letters alongside such literary lions as Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. And although this ageless icon with the impish grin somehow turned 75 while we weren't looking, he shows no signs of slowing down and no intention of resting on his laurels.

Actually it doesn't seem like he's going to rest anywhere. In case it's not obvious from the title, travel is a theme on Crowell's 20th studio album. These road trips may be literal as in the poignant "Don't Give Up on Me" (about a recently released prisoner desperately trying to get home, hoping all the way there's someone to come home to) or metaphorical on "Somewhere Down the Road" which traces a relationship seemingly doomed from the start ("The smile she gave when our paths crossed / I should have seen as 'man I'm lost' ") And sometimes they're both, as on the standout duet with Ashley McBryde "Taking Flight" which somehow manages to depict a road trip and simultaneously graph the arc of a relationship ending at just about the worst time possible. ("We were somewhere east of Hattiesburg / On a lonely stretch of nightmare").

When Crowell's not on the road, things lighten up a bit. "Louisiana Sunshine Feeling Okay" is just as cheery and upbeat as it sounds like it would be. "Some Kind of Woman" details a woman who sounds just about perfect ("She quotes Descartes verbatim behind that country girl smile / She got but one ultimatum, just don't go cramping her style").

Crowell also manages to have some fun here paying tribute to his musical influences. While they sing along, listeners can try to pick up all of the classic songs – from artists that range from Rockabilly Hall of Famer Gene Vincent to blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins – referenced on "21 Song Salute (Owed To G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon)" (Here's a hint: Not all of the songs are classics (yet). One actually makes its debut elsewhere on this album.)

Crowell, like a lot of people these days, is worried about the way the world is going. "Heaven Can You Help" is a heartfelt plea for divine intervention, but because Crowell is such a talented wordsmith the plea is also pure poetry. ("The system's run amok and we've no doubt pushed our luck / Beyond what once would pass for much too far). It paints a bleak picture but ends on a note of muted optimism.

Speaking of which, here's hoping the future offers Rodney Crowell ample opportunity to guide us down many more roads.