Yet the former wild child is a man in his 30s now, and he seems to be benefiting from some stability. Cardinology follows very much in the vein of Easy Tiger, Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights - if slightly less sprawling and more focused than the last two albums.

Backing band the Cardinals make an official return here (they weren't credited for Easy Tiger, but were still on the record), and it's clear that they're now the perfect foil for Adams. There's no showy guitar solos, just a group of finely tuned musicians obviously having the time of their life. They give the songs here a warmth and comfort which makes the album very listenable.

Those songs are some of the strongest that Adams has written for some time. Easy Tiger gave an impression of treading water, with several songs reworked from old bootleg recordings, but on Cardinology Adams sounds like a man re-energised.

That's demonstrated on the opening salvo of songs - the easy roll of Born Into A Light with its mournful pedal string guitar is a lovely opener, but Go Easy is the first real gem. Reminiscent of Cold Roses, it's a contemplative look at a broken relationship, with Adams' voice nearly cracking on the emotional chorus of "I will always love you, so go easy on yourself".

Fix It is in a similar mould, if even better, with a glorious chorus of "it feels like losing when someone you love throws you away....I'd fix it if I could". Admittedly you could see it replacing Coldplay in an particularly poignant moment in an ITV comedy-drama, but just bask in its beauty for now.

After this blisteringly good start, Cardinology settles down into a languid country-rock groove - beautiful at times, intensely listenable and professional, but probably not breaking any new ground. Magick showcases Adams' longstanding love of U2, while Crossed Out Name is just superb: taking a familiar Adams lyrical motif of wandering round New York City on his own and creating some memorable lines ("I don't pray, I shower and say goodnight to myself") to tug at the heartstrings.

The intimate Evergreen is another highlight, although the last third of the album is dragged down a bit by too many laidback country-ish ballads. Still, the stately piano of Stop makes for a perfect closing track, presumably about addiction and recovery with lines like "I know a sickness so ancient and cross, a crucifix can never fix enough". The fragility even brings to mind Adams' finest solo album, Heartbreaker.

Widely thought to be his last album for Lost Highway, Cardinology marks the end of an era for Ryan Adams. He's spoken of moving into a Foo Fighters/Oasis direction, which would be disappointing - he's too good to just churn out stadium rock. After all, when he's on form, nobody can touch the soul as perfectly as Adams. If this does mark the end of his sometimes troubled relationship with his record label though, it's a pretty good swansong.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees