Jim White: Drill A Hole

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Itinerant alt.country Southern Gothic singer-songwriter White has done most things in his 47 years (taxi driver, model, photographer, competitive surfer, Pentecostal snake-handler) and in 97 - after three decades of writing songs - recorded his remarkable Wrong Eyed Jesus!, which alerted the world to a man who saw the world differently but could hone his visions into memorable and often quite lovely, angular songs. His follow-up in 2001, No Such Place, got a very big thumbs-up in these pages with references to Tom Waits, Will Oldham and Sparklehorse.

The full title of this quiet and engaging album of what might be considered "pop" - and is sympathetically produced by Joe Henry - is Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See, which suggests he doesn't make things easy for either you or himself. Yet these odd narratives (Jesus as a motorised saviour driving a Winnebago with tie-dye drapes and listening to motivational tapes) or engrossing confessionals come with such sneaky melodies and hooks (the breezy radio-friendly Static on the Radio) and enticing arrangements (Miles Davis trumpet, lap steel guitar, sonic crackle) that it fair sneaks up on you.

White may never be much more than a cult figure in a fickle industry.

But then that's what we thought about Nick Cave and Tom Waits - and White's dreamy songs sound much more immediate and approachable than the early work of those guys. Sign up now.

Label: Luaka Bop