Absent Fathers is the sixth studio album by American musician Justin Townes Earle. It was released in January 2015 under Vagrant Records and Loose.

Absent Fathers
Studio album by Justin Townes Earle
Released	January 13, 2015 (2015-01-13)
Recorded	2014
Genre	Country
Label	Vagrant, Loose
Producer	Justin Townes Earle, Adam Bednarik
Justin Townes Earle chronology
Single Mothers (2014) Absent Fathers (2015) Kids in the Street (2017)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Consequence of Sound	B−[3]
Exclaim!	4/10[4]

Critical reception

Mike Sauve of Exclaim! wrote that "the problem is that Earle's melancholy has taken primacy over his songwriting, which is uncharacteristically generic here, making this subdued and plodding release a career low."[4] Grant Golden of Paste wrote, "For all of the somber overtones to Absent Fathers, there's still plenty of hopefulness within this record ... [o]ne can only hope that this landing means that he's as comfortable with self-exploration and transparency in the future as he's been on Single Mothers and Absent Fathers, because if so then the best of Earle may still be yet to come."

Track listing

Personnel

• Justin Townes Earle – acoustic guitar and vocals
• Paul Niehaus – guitar and pedal steel
• Mark Hedman – bass
• Matt Pence – drums

References