Myrna Loy

In an essay penned for NPR in advance of the release of his ninth studio long-player, Josh Ritter said of creating Gathering: "I had that feeling you get when the sky is suddenly dark before a summer storm; the thunder heads looming at the edge of the fields, the birds quiet. The smell of the gathering electricity in the atmosphere, the certainty of lightning." It's an apt summation of this 12-track set, which eases the listener in with a balmy, a cappella country-gospel opener ("Shaker Love Song [Leah]"), before letting the clouds open up with the one-two punch of "Showboat," a soulful and self-effacing countrypolitan rocker that sounds like a funked-up version of Glen Campbell's "Gentle on My Mind," and "Friendamine," an affable, country-blues boogie with an out-of-nowhere backwards organ solo.

DELUXE LIMITED version includes a bonus CD with Home Recordings. This record is the product of a strange and interesting time. When I started writing Gathering, I felt tired of living in the shadow of my earlier self, my earlier work, but more than discouraged, I felt charged with the possibility and the freedom of cutting myself loose from my own and others expectations. I began with an exciting sense of dissatisfaction, and what emerged, as I began to find my voice, was a record full of storms. Some, like Feels Like Lightning or Friendamine, are physical storms. Others, like Dreams, are interior ones. Listening to these songs now, I hear uncertainty, mania, laughter and sadness, all vying for their place on the album. I was surprised by the new voice. I have been writing records for almost twenty years now. Each one has been different from the last in subject and form, but with Gathering I feel I've found a new electric dissatisfaction, a new way to rejoice as the storm rolls in.