Supposedly, this Steve Earle record is unlike all other Steve Earle records because it was recorded with beats. But production by Dust Brother John King notwithstanding, it impacts just like any other Steve Earle record — lyrics first. So fans will follow the title's hint and take this for the New York record of a Texan turned Nashvillian turned Greenwich Villager. After all, two of its strongest songs are "Down Here Below," a talky pan-New York City meditation from the twin vantages of Central Park hawk Pale Male and old-school New Yorker journalist Joseph Mitchell, and "City of Immigrants," which is as warmly appreciative as the subject deserves. Both pop up early on what is definitely a front-loaded collection. Two fine love songs to Earle's wife, harmony-singing Allison Moorer, come with one that drags. The endless, bandless, grooveless "Red Is the Color" drags more. And the Tom Waits cover — oy.

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."