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As before, Lyle gravitates toward gentle, moody songs, with Tommy Elskes' slyly sarcastic blues, 'Bohemia,' being the liveliest of the bunch, opting to give Natural Forces some humor and tempo through his originals.
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After these four [original] songs, Lovett sings six covers in row by writers like David Ball, Eric Taylor, and Vince Bell. Each of these songs is given tasteful arrangements, featuring a pantheon of bluegrass’s best pickers, including Sam Bush on mandolin, Stuart Duncan of fiddle, and Viktor Krauss on bass, so you know it sounds terrific, plus Lovett himself is singing as well as ever. Yet it doesn’t feel like a Lyle Lovett album.
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Q MagazineBut on his 14th album, this spiritual cowboy ("Home is where my horse is," he sings on Natural Forces) appears to have rediscovered his adolescent side. [Dec 2009, p. 119]
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Far more than just a curator and tasteful interpreter of others’ material, Lovett once again proves he can stand alongside the finest storytellers.
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The cover tunes--written by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, David Ball, and Vince Bell--are lovely and haunting. At the same time, you may wish Lovett hadn't left all the lyrical heavy lifting to his Lone Star compatriots.
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If you like the country side of Lovett, which is how he started in the ’80s, you’ll love this record.
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Natural Forces sits comfortably next to early Lovett efforts like Pontiac--jovial, artful, and packed with deep Texas roots.