The 38th album from the only Nobel prize winner (to date) to have appeared in a Victoria’s Secret ad finds him continuing his reinterpretations of the classic American songbook, as he did so successfully on 2015’s Shadows in the Night and 2016’s Fallen Angels. Spread across three loosely themed discs, Dylan performs intimate versions of songs written by Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin and others and, in the main, popularised by Sinatra. Throughout, the muted arrangements act as foils to the expressiveness of his pathos-imbued croon, turning the limitations of his voice to his advantage. It’s a wisely curated selection – despite these not being Dylan’s lyrics, it’s impossible to listen to the likes of September of My Years and not hear the resonance of autobiography.
