Lyle Lovett is the modern embodiment of Texas music &mdash; its celebratory swing, its vigorous country soul and, most of all, its extraordinary literate sense of storytelling. His songs are outlined with thieving hearts, family yarns and an unfailing pride in anything that hails from Lone Star territory. </p><p> In short, Lovett isn&rsquo;t merely a Texas artist. He is the state&rsquo;s unofficial cultural ambassador to the universe. </p><p> &ldquo;All of that is high praise,&rdquo; Lovett said. &ldquo;But I just feel that like my music is a reflection of the music I&rsquo;m drawn to, my intention with the songs I write is to say, &lsquo;Hey, this is where I&rsquo;m from.&rsquo;&ensp;&rdquo;</p><p> On his latest release, &ldquo;Natural Forces,&rdquo; the Texas inspirations are twofold. There are four new compositions (one of which, &ldquo;Pantry,&rdquo; is reprised with a bluegrass arrangement), six tunes written by fellow Texas songwriters who have long been friends and mentoring influences, and a song (&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Rock and Roll&rdquo;) that he co-wrote nearly three decades ago with fellow Lone Star scribe Robert Earl Keen. </p><p> For Lovett, the initial songwriting pull came from the masters: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Vince Bell and scores of other Texas songwriters. But not even Texas could contain Lovett&rsquo;s expanding celebrity status as the &rsquo;90s progressed. He toured internationally and took regular turns as an actor in television and film, including roles in five of Robert Altman&rsquo;s movies. But as the chorus of the title tune of &ldquo;Natural Forces&rdquo; says, &ldquo;home is where my horse is.&rdquo; </p><p> &ldquo;With &lsquo;Natural Forces,&rsquo; I knew going in that I didn&rsquo;t have 10 new songs of my own that I was thrilled about recording,&rdquo; Lovett said. &ldquo;But those I did have I didn&rsquo;t want to get any older. The other songs. &hellip; These were songs I&rsquo;ve played and known for years.&rdquo; </p><p> Listen to &ldquo;Natural Forces&rdquo; as a whole and it is good bet that, unless you already know the outside material, you won&rsquo;t be able to distinguish Lovett the songwriter from Lovett the Texas interpreter. The songs share similar tones, temperaments and human detail. At its best, as on Lovett&rsquo;s &ldquo;Empty Blue Shoes,&rdquo; the mood is stark to the point of being impressionistic. </p><p> &ldquo;You know, I was asked early on in interviews about my goals,&rdquo; Lovett said. &ldquo;People would ask, &lsquo;What would success mean for you?&rsquo; The answer I always used to give was, &lsquo;Success would be the ability to continue doing something I love to do.&rsquo; All these years later, that&rsquo;s still my definition. To do something I love without feeling guilty because I have to also devote time to another job. To be able to legitimately engage in this music all the time. ... I mean, there is just not a better feeling. That&rsquo;s the blessing of it all.&rdquo;