With his parched vocals and weary delivery, Hayes Carll doesn’t exactly sound like a man whose list of accomplishments includes a recent Grammy nomination, chart triumphs and ongoing accolades from nearly every critic that counts. This latest album finds the sardonic Texas troubadour dryly circumspect and typically understated, even with Joe Henry directing from behind the boards. “I dreamed of something bigger, but it wasn’t meant to be,” he moans on the seemingly autobiographical “Sake of the Song,” apparently implying that, in his view, real success remains beyond his grasp. That’s clearly at odds with reality, but then again, with three songs mentioning the word love in their titles (“The Love That We Need,” “Love Don’t Let Me Down” and “Love Is So Easy”), Carll’s deadpan demeanor might actually mask some eternal optimism. Ultimately, Lovers and Leavers affirms the fact that the aforementioned praise has been well founded. Carll’s hard-bitten tales bring favorable comparisons to Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson, and, along with the grit in these grooves, a similar sort of wisdom prevails.