We live in a perpetual state of war. It's an obvious subject, yet a dangerous one. Every songwriter owes it to themselves to confront it, either allegorically or directly.

On his fifth album, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!, Corb Lund writes about warfare via something he knows about first hand: horses. It's been almost a century since most of us pondered the cavalry's integral role in military history. But as Lund points out on the globetrotting title track, you can still find traces of the cavalry in more contemporary conflicts, like the one going on today in Afghanistan.

Though many of the songs on Horse Soldier! tell tales of foreign lands, Lund has built his career by spinning distinctly Albertan anecdotes for the past decade, on gold-selling albums like 2002's Five Dollar Bill and 2005's Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer. There are more than a few horse stories on those records as well.

Growing up in Taber, Alberta, Lund's lineage boasts over a century of cowboys. And thanks to his keen lyrical pen, Lund's Alberta is ready to take its place in a long line of immortal locales lucky enough to have their own poet laureates who paint vivid pictures, spin mythologies and create memorable characters. Think of any of the following: Bruce Springsteen's New Jersey; Stan Rogers' Maritime provinces; John K. Samson's Winnipeg; Lou Reed's New York City; Stompin' Tom Connors' small town Canada; Lucinda Williams' Louisiana.

And yet voices like those are increasingly rare. Mainstream pop music of all stripes-rock, country, R&B, even hip-hop now-ignores regional specifics, to the point where even as gifted a storyteller as Corb Lund once questioned his lyrical outlook.

Ultimately, Lund's lyrics are what set him apart from every singer/songwriter trying to reinvent the wagon wheel. With a firm grasp of history, a colourful vocabulary and an aversion to typical love songs, Lund is a storyteller, first and foremost. That makes him part of a dying breed.

"Fifteen years from now," he says, "when I have six or eight more records out, I want to leave a canon of work that is unique, where I've been able to follow my own vibe throughout. I feel like I'm a country artist, but I don't feel constrained by that."

I’m a singer-songwriter.

I think “Lovers and Leavers” comes closer to reflecting that than any other record I’ve made.

I didn’t worry about checking boxes, making sure there was something here for everybody, or getting on the radio.

I just took some much needed deep breaths and let them out on tape.

It’s been a while since my last album by some measurements of time. Not “history of the universe time”, or “getting a bill through congress time”, but in the lives of dogs and recording artists, five years and fifty-three days is only a little less than an eternity.

I went through a divorce. I fell in love.

Changes were made, realizations were realized, and life was lived.

But, I kept on writing songs, on my own and with a cast of accomplished characters who combined their own stories and perspectives with mine.

Songs about my friends.

Songs about my son.

Songs about beginnings and endings.

Songs about songs.

Songs about acceptance and regret.

Songs about lovers and leavers.

With these songs in hand, I needed a co-conspirator to help me get them to you.

I called on Joe Henry, a gentleman poet and an elegant artist who seemed a trustworthy steward for my collection.

We recorded this record live in five days, using just an acoustic guitar, a mix of bass, percussion, pianos and organs, and a touch of pedal steel.

I didn’t have one song that I knew would be a sing along or would make people dance. I felt vulnerable in a way that I hadn’t in a long time. But I got what I wanted – a record with space, nuance, and room to breathe. It felt right for my art. It felt right for my life.

“Lovers and Leavers” isn’t funny or raucous. There are very few hoots and almost no hollers.

But it is joyous, and it makes me smile.

No, it’s not my “Blood on the Tracks,” nor is it any kind of opus.

It’s my fifth record — a reflection of a specific time and place.

It is quiet, like I wanted it to be.

Like I wanted to be.