Peter Case is the rare songwriter who's considered life from all it's angles and hasn't flipped yet, though he'll be the first to admit that as time goes by, the weirder it gets. Call him the optimistic pessimist or a pessimistic optimist, but call him the three-time Grammy-nominated artist. After a yearlong abstinence from writing in the wake of his father's death, Case retured with Beeline. The production suggests that at least one of the goals here is to maintain Case's credibility as an off-center artist. The lineup is notable for the presence of the artist's son, Joshua Case, who contributes competent guitar parts and a few superfluous electronic effects.