Troye kinnett with john mellencamp songs

The pandemic has been a banner 18 months for melancholic self-reflection, and art often reflects reality. 

Hoosier rock legend John Mellencamp's latest album, "Simply a One-Eyed Jack," out Friday, brings the melancholy and self-examination in spades. 

Its first chord is as grim a sound as 12 strings can make, and that tone carries on through the album. Like any good writer — and there's no denying the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is that, even some years removed from his megahits — this does not mean the songs all sound the same. 

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Mellencamp's 25th studio album has its slow, almost jazz-like piano ballads ("Gone so Soon"), violin-thumping country tunes ("Driving in the Rain") and even the faintest hint of pop ("Wasted Days," with Bruce Springsteen), but central lyrical themes of deception, rain a