His most fully realized and mature work to date, "The Animal Years" proves to be the album Josh Ritter [ tickets ] has threatened to make for years.

With the late-summer 2005 release of the album's cornerstone track, the epic "Thin Blue Flame," Ritter made a promise--a promise now kept within the context of the album as a whole, for this is an album experience, best taken in its entirety.

On "The Animal Years," Ritter--always critically triumphed as both an inventive and talented songwriter--transcends the usual song and dance of "lone male with guitar/add fills here" with tasteful production that enhances both the album's overall sound and Ritter's lyrical content. But, as always, the artist proves there are no tricks to this trade, as evidenced by the a cappella-sung "Idaho." His finely tuned songwriting is in full gear here, reminiscent of "Nebraska"-era Springsteen.

While not overtly political in nature, "The Animal Years" is an album forged in a time of socio-political turmoil, a fact illustrated by the cut "Girl In The War" and the aforementioned track "Thin Blue Flame." While both may live in the world of the questioning uneasy, they also share a common glimmer of hope.