Lindsey Buckingham has released only four albums as a solo artist in 25 years. While he remains active as a producer and session musician, this is his first offering in 14 years. Those who saw Cameron Crowe's film #Elisabethtown got a sneak peak: Buckingham's Shut Us Down was featured in the film. Under the Skin is perhaps the most nakedly visible and tender recording he's ever dropped. He wrote much of the set while on tour with Fleetwood Mac in 2003. While it's true his albums are deceptively simple in terms of their production values, there are always many layers whispering beneath the surface. This is the sound of that underside. Buckingham employs largely acoustic guitars on this set, and with the exception of the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section helping out on Down on Rodeo and some orchestration by David Campbell on Someone's Gonna Change Your Mind, he mostly allows the acoustic guitar to carry his impeccable sense of rhythm and time. There are a few covers on the set as well, a completely re-invented version of the Rolling Stones I Am Waiting, and Buckingham's own unique reading of Donovan's To Try for the Sun. The themes of these tunes underscore a loose thread that seemingly runs throughout the album; that of anticipation, holding out despite evidence that you shouldn't, and the disillusionment that comes with having ambitions and dreams thwarted. Almost all of these songs feel autobiographical. Take the opener Not Too Late, where he plays plectrum style to the point where his guitar is almost completely glissando. Its beautiful cascading notes stand in stark contrast to the melancholy lyrics that discuss his frustration at his solo career despite what's written about him, and he wonders whether or not he's fooling himself. It's a striking beginning, one that looks at dreams as perhaps just that, except for the childlike character in his own heart that speaks to the other side of that argument. On Show You How, a shimmering little rocker, a man is speeding through life grabbing what he can and disappearing in the process; while a loved one exhorts him to slow down in order to see what his life is like. The words are simple, the images come from everyday life, but the razor is fine and sharp.

1		Not Too Late
2		Show You How
3		Under the Skin
4		I Am Waiting
5		It Was You
6		To Try for the Sun
7		Cast Away Dreams
8		Shut Us Down
9		Down On Rodeo
10		Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind
11		Flying Down Juniper

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