Above all else, John Hiatt is a songwriter. As a performer, he’s tinkered with his approach and proved to be a true lifer unlikely to stop until he can no longer play guitar. Hiatt’s also an absolute sponge for music and ideas, whether he's adapting Motown love songs or tackling Bruce Springsteen–like heartland rockers. It all filters through and turns into that John Hiatt sound. For 2014’s Terms of My Surrender, Hiatt has lead guitarist Doug Lancio handle the production for a largely acoustic approach. Lancio plays some beautiful slide guitar. Previous albums employed the slicker, commercial-oriented Kevin Shirley, so Terms of My Surrender is a return of sorts. “Long Time Comin’” captures the beautiful, heartfelt, somber tone of Hiatt at his finest, while “Nobody Knew His Name” lets Hiatt draw up one his hard-luck loner sketches. “Baby’s Gonna Kick” percolates with a tense electric blues groove, complete with terse harmonica. Hiatt’s dark humor winks at us from the vantage point of “Old People.”