Aging gracefully is not automatic. Unfortunately for the human body, sagginess is inevitable (unless you are Lara Flynn Boyle and have just traded off for an ademic rubbery look). However, the one thing that shouldn’t fade, if you remain a cautious optimist with a little bit of luck, is your spirit (unless you already started off as an old soul who was mad about people on your lawn as an adolescent).

Stevie Nicks is owning her 60s, and even though her last release, 2011’s In Your Dreams, was by no means her best solo album, we were given a work that saw Nicks experimenting and continuing to figure out her own boundaries as an artist. That is certainly not something that she owes us, and is really refreshing to hear someone continue to do something for so long because they continue to feel an artistic compulsion.

Transitioning into new life phases–adulthood, middle age, old age–resembles the initial awkwardness of puberty because you sort of have to figure out what new expectations are and adapt to what you are capable of even if it is not necessarily what you are used to. On “The Dealer,” Stevie Nicks revisits that soothing folk sound that she mastered in the late 70s but also showcases her silvery, aging voice in a way that gives the song so much more character than were she have to have released this fifteen years ago. We are very happy to still have her around, and are looking so so forward to new releases. Keep on keepin’ on, Stevie!