The Eclipse Sessions, John Hiatt's newest album, offers up his strongest set of songs in years. Long celebrated as a skilled storyteller and keen observer of life's twists and turns, Hiatt can get at the heart of a knotty emotion or a moment in time with just a sharp, incisive lyric or witty turn of phrase. The 11 tracks presented in The Eclipse Sessions, from the breezy opener "Cry To Me," to the stark "Nothing In My Heart," the lost-love lamentation "Aces Up Your Sleeve" to the rollicking "Poor Imitation Of God," demonstrate that the singer-songwriter, now 66, is only getting better with age, his guitar playing more rugged and rootsy, his words wiser and more wry.