Terms of My Surrender

If it’s possible to spend four decades as a cult favorite, John Hiatt has done it. The singer and songwriter’s tunes have been well covered by other artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Rosanne Cash and B.B. King and Eric Clapton, and Hiatt has amassed a discography full of first-rate albums without ever really breaking through to a mass-market audience. It hasn’t stopped him: He returns in July with his 22nd studio album, “Terms of My Surrender.” Hiatt premieres the title track today on Speakeasy. The spare, bluesy song emphasizes Hiatt’s craggy voice and mordant wit. “Sometimes love can be so wrong/Like a fat man in a thong,” he croons over brushed drums, understated guitar licks and wordless backing vocals. Hiatt explained the song to Speakeasy in list form. “First off, I don’t want to surrender,” he says by e-mail. “Second off, love requires it. Third off, surrender to love can be a path to freedom. Fourth off, love gives no terms. Fifth off, it takes a special kind of person to appreciate a fat man in a thong.”