Today we have Bruce Springsteen's newest and twentieth studio album Letter to You. Released in October 23rd, 2020 (a week ago), the album is his first collaboration with the E Street Band since 2014. Many of the lyrics deal with mortality, inspired by the death of his close friend George Theiss, which left Springsteen the last surviving member from his first band, The Castiles. In addition to the lyrics about mortality, three of the lyrics were written before Springsteen recorded his debut.
While "If I Was a Priest" and "Song for Orphans" are no doubt two of the strongest cuts, "Janey Needs a Shooter," the third track that is nearly fifty years old, further proves that much of the magic of Springsteen's first album was the many wordy verses, not a melodramatic chorus which repeats over and over for the last two minutes. Luckily, that's the only major criticism I have for Springsteen, who has just released his best album since Magic (2008) or beyond. On the opener, he has one of his most vulnerable vocal performances and right after that is a classic E Street rocker "Letter to You." A few of the songs--"Rainmaker" and "I'll See You in My Dreams"--have somewhat awkward choruses, but each song in the end, through the lyrics and the fullness of the band, works good enough. B+ [Later: A-]
