A yellowed, time-weathered photograph of a rural house serves as cover art for Damien Jurado's latest album, Where Shall You Take Me?, and a smalltown atmosphere permeates the 10 songs on this short recording, the blanks filled in by with stories of tragedy, lost love, misplaced hopes, and simple pleasures.

Wherever Jurado is being taken, he is feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. The album is bookmarked by expressions of guilt. Ghoulish opening track "Amateur Night" paints a fragmented image of a killer rationalizing it away. ("I am not an evil man / I just have a habit that I can't kick.") Doleful closing track "Bad Dreams" longs to change himself and escape from the hell he's made for himself. ("And I have bad dreams / Done so many bad things / So come save me from this fire.")

Other tracks look back with nostalgia at the innocence of childhood ("Omaha") and express a longing for the simplicity of the small town ("Matinee"). All reflect a general weariness with life.

Musically, the album is fragmented, most of it picking up where the 1999 EP Gathered in Song left off. "Abilene," "Window," and "I Can't Get Over You" could easily pass for modified Appalachian folk tunes. The electric guitar is used only on standout track "Texas to Ohio," a longtime live favorite, now a fuzz-laden anthem that's really too slow to compensate for the pace of the other nine languid tracks.

If you're already acquainted with Jurado's work, this one's worth adding to your collection. Otherwise, pick up Rehearsals for Departure for the best of Jurado's acoustic sound or I Break Chairs for the best of his electric work.