• Troubadour revisits his roots.

Though Recovery could rightly be called a remake of his earliest material, Loudon Wainwright III hardly deserves to be considered alongside serial repeaters Meat Loaf or Mike Oldfield, though. Wainwright is a troubadour in the truest sense, and a lifetime has been spent honing the material heard on Recovery.

The newest song on the album, "The Man Who Couldn't Cry," was originally recorded in 1973. The song was notably reinterpreted by Johnny Cash on the first of his career-redefining American Recordings albums, but rather than illustrating the passage of time, Recovery shows Wainwright's voice as a buoyant vehicle for his well-crafted words. Only the earliest material — like album opener "Black Uncle Remus" from his 1970 debut — serves as a reminder that, like his contemporary, Tom Waits, Wainwright once found it cool to sound old.

In many ways, Recovery is directly inspired by 2007's Strange Weirdos: Music From and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up, especially with the return of backing band producer Joe Henry assembled for the soundtrack, including Canadian bassist David Piltch and pedal steel player Greg Leisz. With "Be Careful There's a Baby in the House," Wainwright even wrote a sober postscript for the film, albeit in 1971.

Other songs on Recovery seem equally prescient. Loudon, his son Rufus, daughter Martha and former wife Kate McGarrigle all offer emotional dispatches from a family whose talents may just equal their various insecurities. "Saw Your Name in the Paper", a portrayal of professional jealousy, might have been the latest entry in the family’s squabbling if it wasn't written in 1971. Perhaps it is still, as Recovery demonstrates, that Wainwright's material — like the best songs — have a life and an evolution of their own.