Composed entirely of songs that Lyle Lovett wrote prior to his 1986 debut album, I Love Everybody combines a young songwriter’s sharpness and ambition with the soft touch and unforced character that only come with maturity. Coming off the soberness of Joshua Judges Ruth and buoyed by a new marriage to Julia Roberts—who provides casual backing vocals on a handful of songs, alongside Rickie Lee Jones—I Love Everybody is cheerful and mischievous. The songs feel like something you might sing to a lover in the morning sunlight while preparing breakfast at the stove. Lovett’s sly humor is at its best on “Fat Babies,” “Creeps Like Me," and “Hello Grandma.” While something in Lovett's disposition makes him Texas to the core, much of the material on I Love Everybody is more informed by soul music than country. It’s found not only in the Joe Tex devices of “Penguins” but also in the slow-burning elegance of “Old Friend.” As a whole, the album has a great sound: warm and worn-in. The way the orchestra curls around Lovett’s acoustic guitar on “Skinny Legs” is the sort of graceful maneuver about which lesser folkies can only dream.