A few of the songs on
the album are goodbyes to a lover, and they’re warm and heartfelt and deeply,
cuttingly cruel. Opening track “A Perfect Miracle” starts off as a love song,
Pierce singing over lilting ukuleles about all the nice things he’d like to do
for someone. And as the song goes on, bit by bit, he lets this person know just
how much space he needs: “My mind is a mess and I’m needing you less / Give me
a call in a little while.” And then, later on: “Lately I’ve found I don’t need
you around / I don’t think it’s working out anyway.” “Sail On Through,” the
last song on the album, doesn’t let her down any easier: “I’ll tell no lie,
I’ll tell the truth / You know, I just don’t need to be with you.” We might
expect a 52-year-old father to sing about the pleasures of domesticity, but
that’s not Pierce. Instead, he sounds happiest when he’s singing about leaving
for the next town on “Here It Comes (The Road) Let’s Go” or dancing to Big Star
with someone during last call on “Let’s Dance.” He was born a rambling man, and
now he’s made the saddest, prettiest, fullest, best road-trip album I’ve heard
in recent memory.( stereogum.com)