Charles Murray’s latest sonic boom is angst a lot, a hilarious yet hauntingly beautiful collection of timely observations from this peerless wordsmith and composer. This is Murray’s 9th studio album in the 2000's and represents an abrupt departure from the sparse guitar/vocal arrangements found on his last release, 2012's A Preview of the Apocalypse. Joining Murray for this latest romp are the excellent young drummer/percussionist, Carl Sorensen; and on Frickin’ Frackin’, the seasoned producer and pedal steel guitar stylist, John Macy, who has toured with such luminaries as Ricky Skaggs. The material here is vintage Murray running the gamut from the perils of the drone war, the dubious joys of hydro fracking, the tortured ethics of the NSA’s warrantless wiretap program and the people who blow the whistle, creepy conspiracy addicts, obsessive health concerns, the disintegration of the middle east, science fiction fantasies and the future of mechanized warfare, our over dependence on handheld devices and much more. Murray’s songs are populated by a rogue’s gallery of miscreants who decry the state of things in general, while voicing their various personal grievances in particular. He comes by his talents naturally as Murray descends from a long line of writers, musicians and artists including a widely published turn of the century Canadian poet and a family vaudeville troupe who once shared the stage with Charlie Chaplin. Charles studied jazz guitar with the renowned educator Dale Bruning, the mentor of Bill Frisell; and composition with Ron Stein, who scored over 140 Hollywood films including Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People, as well as many Roger Corman films such as the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. These influences along with Broadway show tunes, rock n roll, the blues, and r&b inform the unique musical style that is in evidence on angst a lot. Lyrically, musically, sonically; Murray considers this to be his most complete effort to date.