Nick Lowe is one of popular music’s most storied and influential songwriters. The composer and performer of such hits as “Cruel to Be Kind” and “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass,” Lowe is perhaps best known for writing “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” which earned cult status as a New Wave anthem after being recorded by Elvis Costello in the late 1970s.
With "Indoor Safari," Lowe has returned to the music scene with a vengeance, releasing his first full-length album in more than a decade. And "Indoor Safari" was well worth the wait. During a July solo appearance at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, Lowe test-drove four of the album’s tracks, including “Love Starvation,” “Blue on Blue,” “Trombone,” and “Tokyo Bay.” The resulting performance offered a deep inside look into the qualities that make Lowe such a dynamic and affecting player. There is a simplicity—an economy of sounds and words—at the heart of Lowe’s musical output that never fails to charm. With "Indoor Safari," these songs take on ever greater power as the songwriter spars with subjects related to life’s vicissitudes, the confounding nature of love, and the inevitable prospects associated with growing up and growing older.
