Fueled by strong, no-nonsense guitar playing and lyrics laced with loss and longing, Charlie Sexton's Cruel and Gentle Things is a welcome comeback record. He seems as confident and eloquent as a guy who's been pursuing a prolific solo career in the company of greats like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, Buddy Miller, Daniel Lanois, and Bruce Cockburn.

While Sexton has kept that kind of company, playing guitar for Dylan and doing production work for Lucinda Williams, Shannon McNally, and others, he hasn't been prolific as a recording artist. Far from it. A Sexton album is far too rare an event--it's been a decade since Under the Wishing Tree, and this record is only going to make his frustrated fans all the more anxious for yet another release sometime soon. Fortunately, he's got a new multi-record deal with Back Porch Records, in the company of other prolific and profound artists like Over the Rhine, so we can hope this officially kicks off a run of great records like this one.

Cruel and Gentle Things begins with a song called "Gospel" that confirms Sexton is still as interested in taking his listeners on a spiritual journey as he is in entertaining them with top-notch rock musicianship. It's an acoustic anthem that stands up nicely when compared to the songs and performances on Bruce Springsteen's Devils and Dust. His up-close-and-personal lyric style makes it clear that he's traveled a rough road, but he's come back with something to say. Lamenting dark nights and grievous loss, he testifies to the available comfort in Christ.

Too much information might cripple your soul
the world is challenging your faith more than you know
If you’re looking for forgiveness you better reach your knees
If you’re asking Jesus, you better ask him ‘please.'

Yeah, everybody's searching
So many are lost
They serve themselves no matter what the cost
Yeah the path is narrow
And the ground is hard
No streets of gold, down here only broken and marred

...

A lonely night is a reoccurring thing
Empty rooms and not a word to sing
So I look to the hymns when my spirit sinks
Don't look for Jesus, he's closer than you think.

He doesn't stray far from that signpost that points heavenward. The title track is even more exhilarating, a soaring anthem powered by a chorus of background singers and a few "Hallelujahs." That homemade, Texas-style rock propels other radio-ready tracks like "Bring It Home Again," in which his full-throated singing sounds like an invigorated Elvis Costello. Sexton shares some childhood snapshots in the beautiful reflection called "Dillingham Lane," named for the street where he and his brother Will, who sings backup here, grew up. (Steve Earle shares songwriting credit for the song.)

Listening to the album again, I find more and more to appreciate, and the word that keeps coming to mind is "balance." Sexton's a great guitarist--he's been Dylan's lead guitar player of choice for years--but he doesn't call for any spotlights on his talent here. He arranges the songs so that they are full, warm, and collaborative, so that each element shines in proper proportion. It could have been a record by "Charlie Sexton and the Something-or-Others," and no one would have blinked.

Perhaps that reflects a balance that he's found in his own life. After all, ego tends to show through an egomaniac's work, and another word that comes to mind in relation to Cruel and Gentle Things is "humility." As you'll read in this article on the Austin360 Web site, Sexton has come a long way in learning a healthy perspective on what is truly important. No wonder artists of exemplary integrity, like Lucinda Williams and Edie Brickell, ask him to produce their records.

That humility has grown from a life of loss (a failed marriage, a father imprisoned on a drug bust when Sexton was four years old), disappointment (a much-hyped pop-star career that quickly collapsed), and disillusionment with the rock-and-roll lifestyle. He sings, "I'm taking inspiration with the gloom / 'cause usually where there is a tear, there's a tune." But unlike other the empty assurances of other world-weary rock stars who tell you to just "believe in yourself" or "follow your heart," Sexton's music is anchored is deeper, firmer ground.

Best to let him have the final "Gospel" word:

Happiness is a slippery thing like a pig in grease
Now something’s coming and I hope it’s peace
Well it’s bound to happen
I know he understands
Make sure Jesus holds it in his hands.