Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 13/02/06
Label: !K7

Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen must be Howie Beck's motto. The Canadian singer-songwriter's 2001 debut "Hollow" received such an across-the-board rapturous reception for its pensive, poignant, battle-bruised songs-from-the-heart and authentic DIY sonics (he recorded it in his flat, playing every instrument) it seemed likely he'd soon be the name on every discerning muso's t-shirt. That he's waited five years to release this equally masterful follow-up suggests either he's meticulous to the point of procrastination, or he really, really loves his day job.

Beck remains by far the most Elliott Smith-sounding of all the world's Elliott Smith soundalikes - there's the low key, barely-there vocal that unlikely to give Lemar any sleepless nights, the subtle harmonies with himself, and downcast Neil Young-inspired ditties about tricksy females and the general bitter taste of life - see the mesmeric "Zombie Girl" with its whining slide, or "How Do You Feel" a kissing cousin of Smith's "Behind The Bars".

However there's a confidence and levity here, too, that suggests Evan Dando (albeit on a down day) - best summed up in the swaggering "Don't Be Afraid"'s chummy chorus "Don't be afraid if you're all f*cked up / Everybody knows you'll get through somehow." All instrumentation is imaginative, carefully-constructed and handled with the TLC only a true pro can provide - maracas, wood blocks and trumpet spice the bossanova-tinted "My Low"; country hick banjo adds edge to "We Waited", and whenever strings are called for it's just a light spritz (like perfume, so much more effective than a heavy dousing).

With the exception of the weary "Please", the Toronto troubadour ticks all the boxes: he is melodically generous, and his pace energising - low-tempo follows up-tempo, acoustic strumming leads into an old-time waltz. He's chock-full of telling observations - the sort lesser songwriters always jettison in favour of pompous, overblown pronouncements on the space / time continuum. The unread books on a bedside table, for example, tell him everything he needs to know about the girl he's currently sizing up ("The Books Beside Her Bed"). All is marinated in an old-fashioned sense of wisdom and soul.

Intimate, intelligent, perceptive yet mindful enough of the concept of entertainment not to wallow or whinge, he should be this year's Jose Gonzalez. "Please don't sell out / Like everybody else does..." he sings on "Everybody Sold Out". Right back at you, Howie. Those five years were well spent, and their end-result proof that more bands don't follow your example. Roll on 2011.

    by Anna Britten