

A founder of modern country celebrates 93 years young—plus a Dylan co-write. Frankly, every album Willie Nelson has released after turning 80 is as much a celebration of Willie Nelson’s continued existence as the music itself. Some are outstanding (Last Man Standing, A Beautiful Time), and even the so-so ones are welcome opportunities to return to Nelson’s perennial moods and themes: time passes, feelings fade, and ain’t it all just a miracle still. Produced and largely co-written by Buddy Cannon, who has worked closely with Nelson since the 2010s, Dream Chaser is a mostly reflective, midtempo album with at least a few exceptional moments: “Developing My Pictures” (a wonderful song barely touched since George Jones sang it in the 1960s), the alcoholic’s surrender of “Fly Away,” and the Bob Dylan co-write “I Can’t Read Your Mind,” which opens with the obvious, genius “I don’t know how to read your mind/The letters are too small.” The 2020s have already been Nelson’s most productive album-making decade since the ’70s and ’80s, and it’s only halfway through. He’s just breathing.