Ben Lee: Hey You. Yes You

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating * * *)

Still only in his early 20s, the Australian singer-songwriter, who is regarded as something of a precocious talent at home, is already up to his fourth solo album having flagged away the band approach in his mid-teens.


It's a solid, sweet-natured pop collection which doesn't try particularly hard to stretch Lee beyond his indie horizons or stretch his slight singing voice. Though with the help of producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura this verse-chorus guitar-pop traditionalist does spice up his approach with some electronic dabblings which on the likes of Aftertaste, Dirty Mind, and Music 4 the Young and Foolish have Lee sounding not unlike Gorillaz - the "cartoon" side project/band fronted by Blur's Damon Albarn which Nakamura was the studio brains behind.


Add the best of the pop-rockers (Running With Scissors, Something Borrowed, Something Blue) and the bittersweet ballads which dominate the second half ( No Room To Bleed, In the Morning, and Still on the Line) and the result is yet another mildly enjoyable Ben Lee album which isn't exactly going to cause a run on his fan club membership.

Label: (Modular/EMI)