A month after my deep dive of Jackson Browne’s studio catalog, and seven years after the singer-songwriter’s last record, Browne released his 15th album. If he’d moved a little quicker, or I’d moved a little slower, it would have been part of that series.

Instead, I’m getting to 2021’s Downhill from Everywhere five years late.

Browne was drawn back to the studio by a desire to chime in on the state of the world, which had suffered both the first Trump presidency and the beginning of COVID by the time of this album’s release.

The long-time environmentalist was also disheartened by the escalating climate catastrophe, and particularly the rise of plastic pollution of the oceans. God bless him, he has always fought to make the world better.

Those who followed my deep dive, or this blog in general, know that I am allergic to overtly political songs. While I loved the introspective personal songwriting of Browne’s early career, he largely lost me when he started singing about social causes in the late 70s ad beyond.

Downhill from Everywhere suffers from that focus on activism. Its worst moments are didactic and groan-worthy, as in the bridge of the title track:

The song also name drops the GOP, NRA, and ICE, for good measure. I despise all three of those organizations, but I’d rather hear about them in the news than on a rock album.

More successful is ‘The Dreamer,’ which puts a human face on the immigration crisis by telling the story of a woman deported after entering the country as a child. It’s a bit preachy but invests the issue with genuine emotion.

Browne sings that song’s chorus in Spanish, and he breaks out his Catalan on final track ‘A Song for Barcelona.’ He sings in Creole on ‘Love is Love,’ a song about Haiti. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong about a 72-year-old white man breaking out the foreign languages to pay tribute to people of color, but it all feels a bit Woke 1.0.

I don’t mean to be so negative, and the truth is Downhill from Everywhere makes up for some of its cringiness through lovely musicianship, strong melodies, and still-excellent vocals by Browne.

And the few songs not veering into politics are quite good. Opener ‘Still Looking for Something,’ a song about aging, nods back to Running on Empty in both its lyrics and its sound. Single ‘My Cleveland Heart‘ is a clever track about seeking an artificial heart to replace his broken human one.

Today’s song, a standout, is about passing the baton to the next generation. Again, it succeeds because it makes the political personal.

The world needs more people who care about making a difference. Between Browne’s personal activism and his attempts to inspire others through his work, I’m certain he has done more than his fair share.

In the meantime, I’ll be over here listening to Late for the Sky.

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This post is part of my exploration of Jackson Browne’s studio catalog.
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