Now that he's properly running both American Music Club and a solo career there seems to be a balance to Mark Eitzel's output. The band always did provide the musical uplift to enhance his deadpan humour and relieve his more maudlin tendencies. And having exorcised these with them - on the still excellent Love Songs for Patriots -Eitzel cuts himself more of a free rein on this latest solo album.

So alongside and between the familiar downbeat (self-)mockery, there's an electronic experimentalism - full of muffled backbeats and samples. A restrained one mind you - this is no twiddle-fest - but demonstrating a range of only hinted at instrumental expression to go with the more familiar heartfelt howl. Indeed several of the tracks are supposed to be from the soundtrack to an unreleased film (I'm still guessing it's not a comedy mind you...).

As a result there's a relaxed feel to the record as a whole and a lasting interest that goes beyond the emotion on display. Not the tour de force of songwriting that has gone before, but it's just possible that this might be his best solo effort yet.

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