There's a profound difference between irony and understatement, a simple truth that fuels Andy Stochansky's big-label bow from its quavering opening guitar notes. While the multi-instrumentalist and Toronto native has managed two previous releases (the well-received indies Radio Fusebox and While You Slept), he's spent most of the '90s as a sideman, including a long stint as Ani DiFranco's drummer. But it's his latter-day, novice's intrigue with the acoustic guitar that fuels much of this subtly evocative standout. With a voice that teasingly wavers between a weary Ray Davies and angelic Jeff Buckley dreaminess, Stochansky's deceptively austere constructions build on elegantly simple melodies and loping rhythms, the introspection and impressionism of their lyrics building a sense of hypnotic intrigue. The dominant subject here may be love, but hardly in the traditional romantic sense; the singer often filters the emotion through prisms of indifference ("Here Nor There"), humanistic spiritual yearning ("One Day"), fatalism ("Wedding Day"), and even as a father struggling to come to terms with his gay daughter ("Miss USA"). Some, like "Wonderful (It's Superman)" and "Mavis Said...," gather enough steam to become anthems, but Stochansky never lets them stray from his compelling, less-is-more ambient-pop sensibility.
