It does seem to be an increasingly common trait in recent years for an album to weigh in at less than 40 minutes, and in an increasing number of cases between 30 and 33 minutes. Particularly in the country/Americana field. In a way it's going back to the days of vinyl and the playing time of that era although that was sometimes due to technical considerations (the dynamic range and sound quality of a crammed groove is often compromised).. For a CD, it may not be any shortage of quality, but it's poor value for money IMHO. Sometimes the reason seems to be just getting the music out there fast without waiting to have enough for a normal-length disc. There also seem to an increasing number of artists releasing EPs nowadays too. And singles...