There are only a handful of bands/artists that you can say have never produced a bad album. Some are better than others in their respective catalogs, but you can’t say that any of them are just crappy.

Steely Dan, Van Morrison and The Beatles come immediately to mind, and Lyle Lovett is another that must be included in this short list. From his quirky swing-inflected debut hit “Here I Am” to his flirtation with the Hollywood elite and tabloid paparazzi during his short lived marriage to Julia Roberts, Lovett has always maintained honesty and quality in his music and continues this trend in his newest effort, “Natural Forces.”

Starting with a stellar band that includes bassist Viktor Krauss (Alison’s brother), veteran Russ Kunkel on drums, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Sam Bush on mandolin, Matt Rollings on piano, Dean Parks on electric guitar and Paul Franklin on pedal steel, Lovett has put together an album that runs the gamut from up-tempo western swing to beautiful ballads to out-and-out rockers, and as usual, inflects his genuinely quirky sense of humor throughout.

Opening the album with the title cut, an infectious cowboy ditty with the hook line “Home is where my horse is,” he continues to delight with three more of his own songs, “Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel,” a fun-filled western swing romp, “Pantry,” a great boogie tune that suggests you “keep it in your pantry” and a beautiful ballad titled “Empty Blue Shoes.” At this point in the album Lovett begins a series of songs written by other great songwriters including Eric Taylor, Townes Van Zandt and David Ball, and then wraps it up with a rocker he penned with former college roommate Robert Earl Keen called “It’s Rock and Roll,” an ode to life on the road.

But he’s not done yet ... as a bonus, he’s included a wonderful acoustic version of “Pantry” to close out the album, which serves as a fitting coda to yet another fantastic and highly enjoyable addition to his catalog of great albums.

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