Night Train

This New England folksinger learned to accept the comforts of fellow folk musicians on his previous few releases but he isn’t about to sacrifice his homespun tales that still come heated courtesy of the kitchen wood stove. The added snarl of electric guitar on the title track practically throws Morrissey into the modern “rock” age and makes his idiosyncratic croak of a voice sound like the blue-collar Lou Reed of the graveyard shift. It’s a welcome tonal shift in a career that’s depended on a stillness that’s impossible to nail down. The New England he sings about is very real, but often sounds lost in time during an age where the world is becoming increasingly connected through satellite TV. But it’s a bluesy electric guitar that shades the shuffle of “Sandy,” a restrained picking that underlines the jocular “Cold, Cold Night” and it’s a hushed ensemble that collects for the wintry huddles of “Birches.” “Letter From Heaven” jovially collects all the dead musicians into one playful jam. Despite his loner streak, Morrissey plays well with others.