Steve Earle has been quite the busy guy. Always a bit of a multi-tasker, he’s outdone himself lately. His unlikely career as a character actor, boosted by his memorable turn on The Wire, has been rolling along thanks to a recurring role on HBO’s Treme. And, having previously written a collection of short stories, he is preparing to release his first novel.

That novel shares its title, I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, with Earle’s latest album. In case you’ve forgotten, Earle is best-known for his music, as a singer-songwriter who was alt-country before such a thing truly existed. This is his twelfth studio album, and his first one with new material in four years.

The new album certainly marks a return to his country roots. Fiddles, mandolins, and pedal steel accentuate the mostly acoustic proceedings. For the most part, the instrumental backing is solid, but a bit bland, and, sadly, the album as a whole can be described in the same way.

To be sure, there are some nice moments to be found, and it’s an instantly accessible bunch of songs. It’s hard to deny the sentimental sway of “This City," a tribute to the resilience of New Orleans featuring some bouncy brass. “Meet Me In The Alleyway” adds some bluesy menace to the proceedings, with Earle coming on like Tom Waits at his grittiest.

Earle’s most recent album was a collection of Townes Van Zandt, and some of his influence rubs off in the sturdy melodies and yearning poetry of “Lonely Are The Free” and “I Am A Wanderer”. But Earle’s throaty singing keeps those songs stubbornly tethered to the ground, whereas Townes’ woebegone moan never failed to lift his constructs skyward.

Those gruff vocals of Earle’s do better when contrasted by the sweet tones of his wife, country chanteuse Allison Moorer, when the pair duet on “Heaven Or Hell," an ode to a love that’s irresistibly combustible. On the album’s finest song, “Every Part Of Me," he pens a much more straightforward love song and shows off his underrated melodic flair.

Unfortunately, there never seems to be any point where Earle is breaking new ground. And the only nod to his legendary rebellious streak is “Little Emperor," a sarcastic send-off to George W. Bush which, whether you agree with the sentiment or not, feels about two years too late.

Ultimately, that main problem with I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive is that it feels like a collection of odds and ends rather than a cohesive album. A few of the cuts here were recorded for other purposes, and the whole project comes off as a bit disjointed. Earle has spoken in interviews about all of the songs having to deal in some way with mortality, but that connection feels tenuous at best.

While there isn’t anything too objectionable to be found on the album, there also isn’t anything that can truly stand toe-to-toe with the best stuff in his back catalog. Earle may be having success in his all of his other ventures, but it’s hard to listen to I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive and hear it as anything better than a pleasant afterthought.