If his singing tone wasn’t evidence enough, Nelson also has a bit of his pop’s phrasing style. For proof, look no further than “Frame of Mind,” which rolls to an easygoing groove. On it, Nelson takes his time explaining how he needs to break off a relationship. He tells this girl take his picture off her dresser because he’ll just make her cry more. “The funny thing is I laugh all the time,” Nelson sings ironically at one point, showing that he also has his old man’s ironic lyrical gifts.
A song like “Frame of Mind” also reveals Nelson’s gentle side. In concert, he can shred on guitar with the best guitar-slingers. Anyone that caught him on the Willie Nelson Country Throwdown Tour a few years back will recall how he was the guitar-for-hire for almost every act on the large bill.
Nelson claims that this album was recorded, mixed and mastered on full moon nights only. Its release date was April 3 because -- you guessed it -- that was another full moon. Nelson and band chose this lunar route because his friend and mentor Neil Young suggested it. Recording on a full moon would make you expect the words and music to be a little spooky. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. These are love and unrequited love songs, mostly, with a blues-country base. One of the album’s best moments comes at the end of “Don’t Take Me Back” where Nelson can be heard in studio chatter, enthusing that they got this particular take right.
Nelson lets out all the stops with the album’s title track, “Wasted,” which finds the singer/songwriter rocking out like a party animal. He sings its words with a slight growl over a Stones-y groove, which is augmented by girly backing vocals and just the hint of organ.
While Lukas Nelson shares many musical similarities with his red-headed dad, he doesn’t yet show Willie’s same conceptual ambition. In other words, Red Headed Stranger, this album is not. He also doesn’t play a lot of beat up acoustic guitar music. Instead, songs like this album’s title track find Nelson stretching out comfortably and expansively on electric guitar.
Only time will tell if Lukas Nelson develops the kind of unique musical personality Jacob Dylan has carved out for himself. The evidence displayed on Wasted bodes well for the emerging talent, however. He has some mighty big shoes to fill, it’s true, but he’s taken all the right steps so far.
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