Life Short Call Now

"Life Short Call Now" is the twenty third full-length studio album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. It was released in 2006 by True North Records. The album featured a 27-piece string section and guest appearances by Ron Sexsmith, Ani Difranco and Hawksley Workman on backing vocals. The album sees Cockburn reunited with Jonathan Goldsmith, the producer behind his 1984 tour de force Stealing Fire. As such, many long-time fans expected this new album to be a rocking diatribe against western cultural imperialism and American warmongering. It is, but Life Short Call Now is different from the mid-80s Central American trilogy of albums The Trouble With Normal, Stealing Fire, and World Of Wonders. This album has more of a world-weary sense of resignation by times, but it often displays a more tender tone as well. Cockburn sticks to an acoustic guitar more often than not, and many of the pieces include a 27-piece string and horn section.