Dwight Yoakam – 鈥�3 Pears鈥�
For his first full-length album since 2007, Dwight Yoakam delivers a fresh mix of musical genres that include power pop, rock, soul, country and rockabilly.
The Kentucky native, known for his vintage Bakersfield musical style, continues to be an unpredictable artist, refusing to succumb to the contemporary cookie-cutter acts that come out of Nashville year after year.
“3 Pears” marks Yoakam’s return to Warner Brothers, where he recorded from 1986 through 2001, releasing unforgettable albums like “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.,” “If There Was a Way,” “This Time” and “Blame the Vain.” “Take Hold of My Hand” opens the album with a bass line reminiscent of Motown and an infectious melody resembling a Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne composition.
Yoakam and Kid Rock wrote the toe-tapping arrangement that showcases Yoakam’s rich tenor vocals.
Yoakam also gets some production assistance from Beck on the gritty Rolling Stones-sounding “A Heart Like Mine” and the soulfully simplistic “Missing Heart.”
“Waterfall” is a whimsical and charming love song that displays the artist’s knack for writing a song that is totally unexpected. Eleven of the 12 tracks are penned by Yoakam.
“It’s Never Alright” finds Yoakam slowing it down with a tender break-up ballad that begins with piano before yielding to a stirring horn section punctuating the pain and loneliness of a lost relationship.
“Long Way to Go” appears on the album twice. The first version features a full band offering a vintage mid-tempo Yoakam arrangement, while it later returns to close the album as a hauntingly dreamy piano ballad.
The album title is a clever nod to the Martin Scorsese documentary “George Harrison: Living in the Material World,” featuring a scene that shows John Lennon playfully wearing three sets of different sunglasses simultaneously.
With “3 Pears,” Yoakam releases one of the best albums of his career.