Bill Callahan

Apocalypse Drag City*****

Bill Callahan has woven something of a companion piece to 2007's sublime Woke on a Whaleheart, once more riding over the rough terrain of his heart and continuing to rewrite its map. There is a loose sense of the western; Drover has an expansiveness that suggests the old ways, his poetic lyrics referencing cattle and wild country amidst an arresting guitar and lovely, lilting fiddle.

On America!he tries to unpick what has happened to his "grand and golden" country, somehow reminding you of its mystery. The overall atmosphere is intimate – his searching baritone leading the dance through country, blues, 1970s rock, Gordon Lightfoot, heartache and disappointment, carrying a remarkable spiritual weight. But, as he sings on Drover, "anything less makes me feel like I'm wasting my time".

See dragcity.com/artists/bill-callahan

Download tracks: Drover, Riding for the Feeling