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I consider Bob Dylan the greatest rock artist ever, bar none, but even I’ll concede that some of the hoopla over the Man’s late-career phase is a bit over the top — Rolling Stone’s review of Dylan’s 2006 disc Modern Times probably had the five stars attached before the thing was even written. But I will go to my grave defending 2001’s “Love and Theft”, an incredible late-career masterpiece that legitimately ranks with Dylan’s best. “Mississippi” gives me shivers to this day.

And, luckily, a similar pleasure hits me listening to “I Feel a Change Comin’ On,” one of the 10 tracks on Together Through Life, Dylan’s latest solo LP.

The track is one of those creepy-crawly swaying sunset joints Dylan has so perfected over the past decade. The instrumentation contains few surprises; aside from the bright squeezes of accordion, nothing here is new for Dylan. But as the rhythm builds and Dylan croons his way through his plaintive lament, that moment hits when you can almost hear the joy the players bring to their instruments, and you can tell the singer is feeling his material. When that happens, concepts like technique fade into the background, and all you’re left with is the urge to swing your hips with your loved one pressed up close.

And while nothing else on Together lives up to the pleasures of that track, nothing else really needs to. Dylan does his thing: He’s got his ballad, his rocker, his ditty, all touched with that fresh accordion sound and sweaty Mexican cantina production. Together doesn’t match the consistent brilliance of “Love and Theft”, but it says a lot that you don’t spend half its runtime trying to size it up in relation to what Dylan did in the ’60s. That was then; this is now. And now feels pretty darn good.

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