Richard Swift - The Atlantic Ocean

Photo / NZ Herald

Rating: * * * *

Listening to the latest album by American multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift is like setting off on a run with a bang, feeling incredible and then getting the stitch.

The opener, Swift's piano-pop, jazz-hands title song The Atlantic Ocean, is exciting, friendly, even humorous, but the rest of the album sounds like it is straining to keep up the tempo.

Swift, an American singer-songwriter who has been churning out albums since 2000, is known for being melodramatic and this ninth album is actually going to bang more pep into the step of its listeners than some of his earlier ones. Ever the piano man, he harmonises with himself, throws in cowbells, brass, banjo and pushes rhythmic piano chords through the tracks.

But the album takes a yearning and soul-searching dive when Swift coos "everyone knows when they're gonna die" in R.I.P and hits its lowest ebb in End of An Age, which is no more inspiring than Cat Stevens.

It picks up for A Song For Milton Feher, a Thomas the Tank Engine theme-like track that gets feet tapping and could prompt snazzy Charleston dancing. There's enough bounce to keep you engaged, but enough dithering to run it as unobtrusive background music.

It's fitting to release The Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the festive season because its broad melodic appeal would make it a great album to bring out at family gatherings.