John Prine - Fair & Square

John Prine's Fair & Square is the sound of a master songwriter settling into his later years with humor, heartbreak and a voice weathered into something beautiful.

Released in 2005 on his own Oh Boy Records, it was his first album of new original songs in a decade, and his first since treatment for cancer in his neck had deepened and roughened his voice. The record went on to win the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, a fitting honor for one of American music's most beloved storytellers.

"Glory of True Love" opens with a gently swaying ode to lasting romance, while "Some Humans Ain't Human" mixes sharp political satire with Prine's trademark gallows humor. "Long Monday" is a tender, aching ballad about missing someone, and his cover of Blaze Foley's "Clay Pigeons" sounds like a song he was born to sing. The arrangements stay warm and unhurried, built on acoustic guitars, gentle rhythms and plenty of space for the stories to land.

Prine had a gift for finding profound truths in small, everyday details, and Fair & Square shows that gift fully intact. It is a warm, wise and frequently funny record that rewards a quiet evening and a good pair of speakers, and it belongs beside his classic early albums.