'Boy': Badly Drawn, Beautifully played

Badly Drawn Boy/b>\nAbout a Boy Original Soundtrack\nTwisted Nerve/KL Recordings\nWhen we last saw Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, he had stumbled out of the bars of Manchester, England, straightening his trademark knit cap over his greasy hair and clutching his sprawling, quirky debut album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast. One Mercury Prize and a Gap ad later, Gough is suddenly at the top tier of British singer-songwriters for his generation (not that the likes of David Gray offer much competition).\nSo it might strike some as worrisome that his second full-length release is the ultimate rock star vanity project: a movie soundtrack. Luckily, Gough eschews all the common mistakes and has turned out a surprisingly coherent record (no Hugh Grant dialogue snippets) that manages to function as more than just a stopgap until his next proper release.\nGough's knack for an effortlessly beautiful melody is undiminished on About a Boy, but this time it's bolstered by a fuller, cleaner pop production courtesy of Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliott Smith). Bewilderbeast was largely a Manchester family affair, featuring backing by Manchester bands like Alfie and Doves who have gone on to release excellent records of their own. This time out, Gough has assembled a group that includes perennial drum utility man Joey Waronker (REM, Smashing Pumpkins) and Jon Brion. That Hollywood money has paid for a full-sized orchestra, and surprisingly the short orchestral cues that alternate with the more standard pop songs manage to still sound like Badly Drawn Boy.\nDespite the wealth of lush pop here -- "Something to Talk About" and "Silent Sigh" stand out -- the album's real stunner sneaks in toward the end. "A Minor Incident" may be the best song in Badly Drawn Boy's already impressive catalogue. It's just Gough's voice, guitar and harmonica, and it neatly encapsulates the heart-on-his-sleeve emotion and pure pop song-craft that should keep the 'Boy' with us for many years to come.\n

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