El Viejo by Corb Lund

If *El Viejo* sounds like Corb Lund’s most intimate music yet, consider its origins. The JUNO- and CCMA-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and his band the Hurtin’ Albertans recorded the LP huddled together in Lund’s living room, using only acoustic instruments and without the help of an outside producer; many tracks were recorded in one take. Accordingly, *El Viejo* sounds unadorned and welcoming, as Lund returns to showcasing original material following 2022’s *Songs My Friends Wrote*. One writer on that former project, Ian Tyson, died that same year, with his passing serving as another source of inspiration for Lund’s stripped-back return to form. Highlights on the LP include closer “Old Familiar Drunken Feeling,” about the experience of taking too strong an edible, and its emotional title track, a touching tribute to Tyson.

7 / 10

Corb Lund's 'El Viejo' is an entirely acoustic album with guitar, banjo, mandolin, string bass, and stripped-down bass, but it never feels like one.

7 / 10

Corb Lund's 'El Viejo' is an entirely acoustic album with guitar, banjo, mandolin, string bass, and stripped-down bass, but it never feels like one.

8 / 10