Grant Lee Phillips: Ladies' Love Oracle

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * *)

From the something he prepared earlier department: former Grant Lee Buffalo frontman Grant Lee Phillips recorded this self-produced 10-track collection in 1999 before the release of last year's excellent Mobilize - an album which neatly moved the American singer-songwriter with the Bowie-ish voice away from the epic folk rock of his old band.

This intimate organic collection is the solo album that was probably expected of him after the group's demise. But if the departure from his rustic habits displayed on Mobilize helped to make it a fine album, this one's not bad, if a little samey and underwhelming in its ballad-heavy acoustic guitar-powered set occasionally decorated by harmonica, parlour piano and pedal steel.

Still, songs such as the sweetly swooning St Expedite and the borderline psychedelic You're a Pony remind of his singular talents, and the rest is enough to make diehard fans' hearts flutter.

Label: Liberation