Curious fish, Jim White. A twisted storyteller in a stetson from somewhere in Florida, his first album, 1997's 'Wrong-Eyed Jesus', established White as one of the alternative country boom's more imaginative storytellers. "Nothing's prettier than a pretty girl digging a heart-shaped hole in the ground," begins 'The Wrong Kind Of Love' encouragingly.
But White's fatal flaw is that his weirdness just doesn't quite work. The banjos and creaks in the background of 'The Wrong Kind Of Love' are fair enough, but the news that it was produced by Sade henchman Andrew Hale reveals the extent of White's uncomfortable hybrids.
'No Such Place' strives to cross freaky backwoods country with the blandest textures contemporary pop can offer. Hence three tracks are produced by those hapless muppets Morcheeba, flogging lame trip-hop to anyone gullible enough to believe it's still fashionable.
And White, hat pulled down too low over his eyes, has plainly fallen right into their trap. There are interesting ideas here - a wretched version of 'King Of The Road' apart - but you can't help wishing White had ended up with cooler and more innovative collaborators to match his laudably anti-trad instincts.
Only the near-ambient delicacy granted 'Christmas Day' by World Standard's Sohichiro Suzuki (formerly of Yellow Magic Orchestra) really hints at what this truly maverick, thwarted talent could achieve.
