4 out of 5

Label: Secretly Canadian

Produced by: Steve Albini

An interesting balance of Scout’s folk and minimalist leanings, which I realize aren’t necessarily discrepant, but the latter has often been employed on her rawer, rougher albums, whereas here it’s mapped to a more tuneful style.

Uptown Top Ranking is a live staple; for those of us unfamiliar with the original, it’s a slow and moody take on a reggae pop tune. But there’s no apparent shtick here: Niblett’s voice and guitar lines are steady, turning the lyrics into something contemplative and intimate.

Dare! is a stand-out, taking the drums-and-voice template but letting melody lead, layering and stripping away vocals to fantastic effect – this makes use of Niblett’s “simplicity” and sing-song aspects arrestingly, as the melody tweaks just so here and there to keep you hooked.

Finally, In the Sine Wave is another bare, slow guitar based song, that employs some subtle feedback to give Scout’s poetic musings an edge, only really lacking a sense of evolution, as it repeats its exact structure twice through without change. It’s a good song, propped up by the other two must-hears.