Chuck Ragan’s bracing new release Till Midnight once again confirms what the iconoclastic singer-songwriter’s fans have known all along: that he’s a deeply compelling songwriter and an effortlessly charismatic performer, as well as a true believer in music’s ability to illuminate and inspire.

Till Midnight’s ten typically impassioned new Ragan compositions embody the artist’s trademark mix of eloquent lyrical insight and catchy, forceful song craft. The album’s formidable blend of head and heart is reflected on such new tunes as “Something May Catch Fire,” “Vagabond,” “Non Typical,” “Bedroll Lullaby” and “Wake With You,” on which Ragan applies his distinctively raspy voice and sharp melodic sensibility to vividly expressive tunes that reflect both his early grounding in traditional American music and his deep affinity for rock n’ roll.

Ragan is backed on Till Midnight by his longstanding combo the Camaraderie guitarist/pedal steel player Todd Beene, fiddler Jon Gaunt and bassist Joe Ginsberg, plus new drummer David Hidalgo Jr., a member of Social Distortion and son of Los Lobos’ David Hidalgoalong with multi-instrumentalist and Blind Melon member Christopher Thorn, Rami Jaffee of Wallflowers/Foo Fighters fame, Ben Nichols of Lucero, Dave Hause, Jenny O., Chad Price and Jon Snodgrass of Drag the River.

Till Midnight benefits from sensitive production by Christopher Thorn, who not only performed on the record but helped it come to life in his own Fireside Sound studio in Silverlake, CA. Initial tracks were cut at Fonogenic Studios and assistant engineering efforts came from Joshua Stuebe, Samon Rajabnik and Davie Dennis