Cowboys and Dreamers in Bloomington, MN

While he may have retired from large-scale touring in 2014,
George Strait
continues to make the kind of heartfelt, easygoing country albums that have kept him relevant for over four decades.
Cowboys and Dreamers
is his 31st studio set and first in five years. Returning to the winning formula of his last two releases, the King of Country Music again enlists the services of producer
Chuck Ainlay
(
Mark Knopfler
) on a record that is comforting, nostalgic, and well-crafted. Standouts like "Three Drinks Behind" and the title track try to make sense of the world through classic barroom and open-sky metaphors that might sound like tropes in lesser hands. "MIA Down in MIA" and the
Chris Stapleton
duet "Honky Tonk Hall of Fame" add some lightness to the otherwise ballad-heavy sequence. If he leans a little too far into sentimentality, he's earned the right.
Strait
has had a fantastic career, one built on steadiness and reliability, traits that never go out of style. ~ Timothy Monger