This World We Live In

1	Drunk on Love 5:09
2	Sweet and Wild 4:48
3	The Kindness of Strangers 4:58
4	Big Idea 3:25
5	Half of My Mistakes 4:09
6	New Zip Code 3:35
7	I Won't Lie to You 2:40
8	Prove Me Right 3:39
9	Fools That Dream 3:46
10	Never Gonna Fly 4:20

Barnes & Noble

Seemingly re-energized on 2002's Another Way to Go, pioneering New Traditionalist Radney Foster (formerly half of the influential country pop duo Foster & Lloyd) returns with a report from the interior, chronicling mating rituals and the telltale markers of new love. And though he's engaged some top-drawer West Coast rockers for instrumental support -- providing a fresh edge that references traditional rock, pop, and country, sometimes all in the same song -- Foster's clear, warm tenor comes out country soul any way you cut it. Lyrically, he addresses love a-borning and the first physical and metaphysical stirrings of passion with Kristofferson-like explicitness; witness "Sweet and Wild," a song built on terse images and tense rhythms, with Foster's measured but urgent reading beautifully buttressed by Sarah Buxton's gritty, blue-eyed soul counterpoint. In the lilting, low-key "The Kindness of Strangers," Foster details, in direct, unambiguous terms, how the wages of sin (a prostitute's fee) help a lonely man get through the turmoil of divorce, when "love's turned to rust" -- a tale made doubly eerie by the presence of mournful violins and Emily West's Enya-like cooing wafting over a lone drum's heartbeat thump. A different take on a drinking song comes by way of "Half of My Mistakes," which features a searing, fuzzed-out guitar solo and Foster and Kim Richey recounting a series of bad judgments made while "stone cold sober," leading to "a lot of good things in my life." A master craftsman and literate to the hilt, Foster makes those O. Henry turnarounds seem as routine as breathing, and as surprising as the persistence of love itself. David McGee

All Music Guide

So how is it that Radney Foster has managed to avoid becoming a major star? Since his days in Foster & Lloyd, anyone who has been paying attention knows about Foster's big, strong, expressive voice and his estimable skills as a lyricist, and his sixth studio album, This World We Live In, finds him squarely in contemporary country territory without abandoning his instincts as a rocker, and he makes the mixture work like a charm. Foster kicks off the proceedings with an updated bit of honky tonk raunch, "Drunk on Love," that gives him a chance to show off his pipes (and Waddy Wachtel's guitar), and "Big Idea" and "Prove Me Right" are equally powerful uptempo rockers fortified with a sharp infusion of twang. But while Foster knows how to serve up a good time, he also knows more than a little about the blues, and "The Kindness of Strangers," "New Zip Code," and "Fools That Dream" are tales of heartache and wrong turns that work beautifully with Foster's rich, full-bodied vocals. Foster co-produced the set with Darrell Brown, and they've lined up ten great songs and a handful of top-notch accompanists (including Kim Richey, who sings backup on two cuts), and Niko Bolas' engineering sounds clear and bold without overwhelming the performances. While This World We Live In boasts just enough polish that current country radio could make a place for it if they chose, Foster speaks from the heart and soul on every track here, and his rowdy but passionate music is the sort of thing Music Row's been missing for years. Give This World We Live In a chance, and you'll find Radney Foster has the goods, and in plentiful supply. Mark Deming