As covers album concepts go,
Songs My Friends Wrote
is first-rate: Canadian troubadour
Corb Lund
decided to cut ten songs penned by his colleagues, making this 2022 album the flip of
Cover Your Tracks
, the 2019 EP where he focused on tunes that are relatively more well-known. There are certainly some recognizable names here, especially to Americana fans -- including a pair of songs each by
Hayes Carll
and
Ian Tyson
, plus songs by
Todd Snider
,
Fred Eaglesmith
Tom Russell
Geoff Berner
John Evans
, and
Mike Plume
-- but this is a work of advocacy, a way to spotlight songwriters who are kindred spirits. To
Lund
's credit,
does sound like one of his albums: it's lean and unfussy, bearing arrangements that keep the song at the forefront. It's also a good sight looser and livelier than many of his earlier records -- maybe not as ambitious as
Agricultural Tragic
, its 2020 predecessor, but containing some of the same spirit of relaxed adventure. So,
delivers what a good covers record should: it works on its own terms and piques interest in the original versions. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine