Ron Sexsmith: Cobblestone Runway

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

The sweet-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter returns for his sixth album, its predecessors having done little to get him noticed beyond a fan base which includes many famous folk.

Here, Coldplay's Chris Martin offers a leg-up on a remix of Gold In Them Hills, an airy Costelloesque ballad which is nice enough. Those descriptions pretty much fit the rest of this - from the Motown-styled These Days to the forlorn folkpop of The Less I Know. However, the ballad God Loves Everyone is Sunday school schmaltz while Dragonfly on Bay Street is annoying disco-pop helping make this one for fans only.

Label: Nettwerk