Stuart Robertson: World Figured Out

The follow-up to his debut album The Furthest Shelter finds Stuart Robertson mining much the same territory. Robertson starts the album out with the gorgeous, jazz-tinged title track that would work well on The Beautiful South’s album Blue is the Colour or on any Twilight Singers record. However, Robertson shows a spring in his step with his softer side on the mid-tempo and light “Change My Battery” which brings Daniel Powter to mind. This feel continues on the pretty but melancholic “Big Plan” that has Robertson shining simply with generally voice and piano. An improvement on this format is “Frowned Upon” as the singer bares a bit more of his soul. Unlike the horde of albums out there, it sounds as if this record gets stronger as it goes along. A particular highlight is the initial moments of “Green Bay”, which packs a lot of promise as does the accordion-tinted “Think Too Deep”. While themes of darkness are evident, each song is done in such a way as to bring some hope to listeners. A good example of this is “Last Thing” which, again, is a breezy but beautiful tune.