Richard Thompson’s ninth solo album is a bit of a conceptual oddity: it consists (unnecessarily, given its total length) of two CDs, one of which features Thompson with an electric band, while the other finds him working in an acoustic mode with minimal additional accompaniment. (Two songs from the electric disc are featured in different arrangements on the acoustic one.) Familiar themes of romantic uncertainty (“Am I Wasting My Love on You”) and class distrust (“Put It There Pal”) continue to loom large — and the presence of Thompson’s son Teddy portends what would become an admirable musical career on the latter’s part.

– Rick Anderson