Thirteen brings to mind the sort of contemporary short stories that seem to emerge from MFA programs. The songs are often narrative, but that’s not the common element; it’s the serious artfulness. Tony Furtado’s songs seem to be driven by a high-mindedness that gives everything, even a cover of Elton John’s “Take Me to the Pilot” a sense of sobriety. As with many short stories, the songs are exceedingly well-crafted and well-dressed, with Craig Shoemaker’s production providing sonically rich, evocative musical surroundings here. That said, Thirteen also shares a bloodlessness with some MFA short stories—a sense of removal that makes the songs feel like artificial constructions instead of responses to the world around us. Like MFA short stories, it’s easy to enjoy the album’s charms in small doses, and it’s only as the album goes on that the distance becomes apparent.