Paul Anka - Inspirations of Life and Love [Blue]

Nearly seven decades after "Diana" made him a teenage star, Paul Anka returns with Inspirations of Life and Love, a lushly orchestrated new studio album pressed on blue vinyl.

Anka has spent his career on both sides of the microphone, writing hits for himself and giving Frank Sinatra the English words to "My Way." Here he turns reflective, building a record around love and the things that matter most once the spotlight dims. He cut most of it in his home studio in California, then took the songs to Budapest, where a full symphony orchestra wrapped them in rich, sweeping strings.

The material mixes standards he clearly adores with songs closer to home. "It Was a Very Good Year" and "That's Life" let him tip his hat to the saloon-song tradition, his voice weathered and warm. "Love Never Felt So Good," the song he co-wrote with Michael Jackson, gets a graceful, string-swept reading, and "Let Me Try Again" lands with the tenderness of a man who knows exactly what second chances cost.

It plays like a late-evening conversation with an old friend who still knows how to hold a melody. For anyone who grew up with Anka's songs, or with the great crooners he learned from, this blue pressing makes a handsome companion for quiet nights in.