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Robert Earl Keen‘s writing on Ready for Confetti is, more often than not, incredibly sharp. “The Road Goes On and On” plays as an answer to his best-known song, “The Road Goes on Forever,” as Keen spits out a series of insults that become more and more self-directed (“[You’re] the original Liar’s Paradox/And you’ll have to Google that”); it’s every bit as vicious and cutting as it is hilarious. He revisits another of his songs on a re-recorded version of “Paint the Town Beige” from his 1993 album, Bigger Piece of Sky, giving the song a far simpler, less fussy arrangement that allows his extraordinary eye for detail to shine.
Though he’s never been known as a dynamic singer or interpreter, his cover of Todd Snider’s flat-out brilliant “Play a Train Song” is an inspired choice that fits perfectly alongside his own compositions. A bluesy reading of the traditional gospel song “Soul of Man,” which Keen has often performed a cappella in his live shows, closes the record on a note that is genuinely affecting and sincere. In dropping the irony for a moment, Keen yet again toys with expectations and shakes up his formula, and it’s that openness to change that makes Ready for Confetti one of Keen’s finest albums. – Slant Magazine
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