You can hear Owen aging on New Leaves - Kinsella's lyrics, his arrangements, and even from the strain on his voice. As a transitional album, where Mike grows up - becomes a father and husband - this can't help but be disappointing. He's a tired man, and his younger years have noticeably taken their tole on the poor guy: "It's a young man's game / bout time I quit," Kinsella confesses on "Never Been Born". New Leaves is the singer-songwriter's weakest collection of songs since his self-titled release. And had not next album Ghost Town been announced for this fall, I would have been suspicious that this may have been his last - of course, thank God it's not.
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