Lowe gets mellower as his edge stays sharp

“IF you hear something you don’t recognize, it’ll be from the new album,” Nick Lowe said Tuesday, addressing a sold-out and sweaty Safari Sam’s crowd with his characteristic deadpan humor and easy charm.

The title of the collection in question, “At My Age,” reflects the English singer-songwriter’s knack for cutting sarcasm, usually directed at himself. And on Tuesday, the 58-year-old entertained feelings of nostalgic melancholy (“Long Limbed Girl”), bitter romantic revenge (“I Trained Her to Love Me”) and eternal, slightly unnerving persistence in matters of the heart (“Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day”).

The silver-haired musician’s basic white shirt and black pants complemented his stripped-down presentation, as he adeptly accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, later joined for the encore by opening act Ron Sexsmith, another veteran songwriter, who performed with him on the Louvin Brothers’ country classic “My Baby’s Gone.”

Although Lowe was an important figure in British punk and is a longtime devotee of classic pop, he’s been enamored of country music for more than a decade now. “At My Age” delicately blends country and folk flavors with more soulful elements à la Arthur Alexander, although the bare-bones live show took away those nuances. The sharp edge remained in such numbers as “People Change,” even though the sting was more subtle, while “Hope for Us All” mingled a more genteel irony with the astonished bliss of a man surprised to find love.

The 90-minute set mostly showed that Lowe isn’t much different from how he’s been at any age: a skillful songwriter and performer with a knack for inhabiting offbeat characters and a bone-dry, sometimes strange sense of humor tempered by moments of honest sincerity. Drawing material from throughout his 31-year recording career, he offered spirited takes on his biggest U.S. hit, “Cruel to Be Kind,” his Chuck Berry homage “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll),” the rave-up “Heart of the City” and the haunted “The Beast in Me,” recorded by his erstwhile father-in-law, Johnny Cash.

Although Lowe walks the line between affectionate and bitter while mocking human foibles, he also has a rare power to be truly affecting. He demonstrated it Tuesday with the tender “Shelley My Love” as well as a solemn rendition of his protest song “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.” When he sang the line “Where are the strong, and who are the trusted?” one couldn’t help thinking how unfortunately timeless such questions are.

weekend@latimes.com