This fifth outing by songwriter is a down-to-the-floorboards recording of quiet dignity, humorous grace, and elegant craft. is an acoustic guitar, bass, and drums affair that feels like it was recorded live from the studio floor (just a short dance step away from his debut living-room record in 1998). 's sound is gorgeous; its warm and inviting ambience is similar to the timeless sound found on 's records. It could have been recorded in the '50s, it might have been recorded in the 1960s, but it sounds completely contemporary. The reason for mentioning the production is simple: it was wise choice to keep everything unnecessary from a collection of songs this intimate and inspired. The title is not a statement in the anthemic sense, but in a conversational one. It means, at least according to the small truth as revealed in these songs, "Become a part of the discussion; it needs you." ' roots reside deeper in the restless heart of music and the of , , and than they do in the current narcissistic club of contemporary . Whether it's in the slippery rag the harmonica-drenched shuffle of or the shimmering brushes and -style fingerpicking on the gorgeous the effect is the same: is sitting down for a conversation on the topics in his mind stream and it's far from one-sided. His sense of place and his emotional clarity are startling on cuts like and the heartbreakingly tender, strange small-town pathos of On dislocation and displacement become the occasion for epiphany in an all but empty motel room as a paean to the absent Beloved. , despite his tender age, belongs in the company of , and former Midwesterner . His music sounds nothing like theirs, but his center, his root of expression, comes from the same desire to look at the small, seemingly insignificant details and realize their meaning as a means of speaking with, not to, an audience. As such, he is in a league of his own. The only flaw on this record is on the sleeve: 's turgid, self-indulgent liner notes (nearly half of which are about his yoga practice instead of his subject) nearly put a potential listener off the record; they belong in a diary, not on this sleeve. is a deeply moving record that, in its small scope, offers a very focused and far-reaching vision; it communicates directly, and quietly, to what is most receptive in everyone without the artifice of sentimentality or lyrically manipulative posturing. ~ Thom Jurek