With his shoegazing days in Slowdive far behind him and things noneffervescent quiet on the Mojave 3 front, Neil Halstead has nestled back into the folds of the twilight folk he first discovered with debut solo album Sleeping On Roads. Six old age on, he's found a new base on fellow surf junky Jack Johnson's label, simply his butter-soft acoustic mumblings remain rightful to his whimsical British spirit. "From London to the Irish coast, this is the land I love, love the most," he sings on Queen Bee, his voice a windswept sigh. Every column inch the poetic everyman, Halstead pricks the egos of inspirational sirens on No Mercy for the Muse and offers up his follicles for love in Baby, I Grew You a Beard. But disdain the playful mandolin and nods to Morten Harket, the snoozy melodies weigh down his homespun wisdom of Solomon, and this little engine runs out of steam.
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