KEY POINTS:
Herald Rating: * * *
The singer/songwriter approach of Fink is not what you'd expect from Ninja Tune, the turntable and sample-obsessed British label that brought you Coldcut and Mr Scruff.
But with artists like Cinematic Orchestra, Ninja Tune has always enjoyed chilling out and it's at this point where the pair meet.
The music on his second album is brittle, moody and beautifully fragile. Throughout This Is the Thing a sound like an oxygen pump sips and sucks as he builds up into increasingly discordant guitar twangs.
His serene poise and gentle, yet well-executed, plucked guitar inspires obvious comparisons to Jose Gonzalez and Ben Harper.
His voice gets a little mumbly and maudlin after a while and you wish he'd clear his throat and speak up and out because that withdrawn, introverted style can lead to earnestness.
When So Many Roads gets rolling, with a deep, pointed beat, it's transitory, and the haunting double-vocals on Make It Good are stunning.
But sometimes Distance and Time is almost so static that it loses you.
Label: Ninja Tune
Verdict: Space is the place for this singer/songwriter. Sometimes too much space
