Album: Loudon Wainwright III, Older Than My Old Man Now (2nd Story Sound/Proper)

Family has always been a significant theme in Loudon Wainwright's work, and never more so than here, where the familiar inter-generational problems are mingled with reflections on ageing.

The latter are less nimbly handled: "I Remember Sex" is a duet with Dame Edna, taken far too slowly; "My Meds" a jaunty, Lehrer-esque recitation relishing medical brand-names; and "Double Lifetime", a raggedy strumalong with Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Better by far are songs such as the jazzy potted autobiography "The Here & the Now", and the wistful musing in "All in a Family" about how, when dealing with "leaves, branches, twigs on a family tree... the forest can be hard to see". Best of all is "The Days That We Die", Rufus Wainwright oozing mournfully with his dad about the way that familial potholes prove so difficult to repair.

DOWNLOAD THIS The Days That We Die; All in a Family; The Here & the Now