Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe is a suave Bukowski, a saloon singer of a high soul-pop order. These 12 intimacies are produced in an eloquent, spare-nightclub oeuvre, a toned-down Gene Pitneyesque sound from the dapper man who emerged from early ’70s Brit pub-rock via his groundbreaking work with Brinsley Schwartz, was at the heart of the Elvis Costello/Dave Edmunds/Rockpile ratpack and is regarded as one of England’s best singer-songwriters. The Convincer is the cool coda of his modern lovelorn triptych—1994’s The Impossible Bird, 1998’s Dig My Mood. His graceful evolution, acutely self aware, is born out of a lifelong love of honest American country and soul; with songs like “Homewrecker,” “Cupid Must Be Angry,” “Bygones (Won’t Go)” and a tender rendering of the Johnny Rivers gem “Poor Side of Town,” Lowe is surrendered. He’s still the Jesus of Cool, this time reincarnated as Scorcese’s Last Temptation Christ.