Early 21st Century Blues

Cowboy Junkies. <i>Zoe/Latent</i>.

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Sure, all Cowboy Junkies albums sound the same—if you’re not paying attention. Because she never breaks a sweat, it’s easy to be lulled by the hushed elegance of Margo Timmins’ voice, but there’s high drama lurking within her mellow tones. Early 21st Century Blues may be the Canadian band’s most compelling work yet, presenting somber observations on humanity’s follies from the likes of Springsteen and Dylan, plus a few originals by brother Michael Timmins, who also injects sneaky-smart guitar riffs. In his “December Skies” Margo murmurs, “Let’s all kill our children and sing about it,” with scary calm; elsewhere, they craft a stirring version of George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity,” and remove the hot air from U2’s “One” to highlight the beautiful melody.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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