Luke Haines, who put out a handful of intriguing CDs with the Auteurs (sort of like a depressed Suede with a hangover), returns with his new project, with John Moore, who's played with Jesus & Mary Chain, Expressway, and Revolution 9, on "instruments." Haines doesn't sing here, delegating vocals to Sarah Nixey, whose weary, resigned singing reflects Haines' typically bleak worldview (typical lyric, from "Child Psychology": "Life is unfair / Kill yourself or get over it"). Nixey's vocals are quite prominent in the mix, which might be a problem if you're low-tolerance on "woe is me" lyrics (some folks on an internet list I subscribe to devoutly wished Nixey would choose the first option quoted above). But if singing is just another sound in the mix, it shouldn't bother you much. Not that the Auteurs were ever likely to be the soundtrack to a Mountain Dew ad, but compared to Black Box Recorder they were positively exuberant. Along with the prominent vocals, the low-key instrumental attack lends this album an air of intense intimacy, reminiscent in its dry keyboard sounds and occasional electronic accents of the most recent Eels depress-o-thon, or occasionally of Portishead (particularly on the rather seriously reworked cover of Althea & Donna's reggae number "Uptown Top Ranking"). I'm not terribly familiar with Moore's work, but the melodies, chord structure, and instrumentation (like the occasional glockenspiel accent) are recognizably Haines. The CD also boasts a second cover, a straight reading of Terry Jacks' maudlin "Seasons in the Sun" which, along with a handful of other tracks, was released on a series of singles in the U.K. separate from the CD's original release.

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