Randy Newman, convinced atheist, loves gospel. Brian Eno, still atheist, loves gospel, and so does Ry Cooder, another atheist. In his telling review on npr (first listen), Tom Moon writes at the end: „If there’s a complaint about The Prodigal Son, it’s that Ry Cooder’s reverence for the old songs can sometimes overshadow his considerable repertoire of guitar sounds and textures. Those who revere the waist-deep atmospheres of Cooder’s soundtracks may wish there were more moments of instrumental meditation between the verses. But that’s a small thing, and it doesn’t detract from the big work Cooder is doing here — using earnest melodies from long ago to speak to the mushrooming crises, internal and external, of the present moment.“