Richard Swift - 'Dressed Up For The Letdown' (Secretly Canadian) Released 05/03/07

In another era, Richard Swift could have ruled the world. In so many respects, 'Dressed Up for the Letdown# is like some lost album from the age of the west-coast singer songwriter. Confessional, stripped down, organic and gimmick-free, Swift’s third outing warms from within like whisky drunk with only an old vinyl copy of 'After the Goldrush' crackling in the background to keep you company.

That’s not to say Swift doesn’t have his peers in the current musical climate. The show-music drama of Rufus Wainwright and Ed Harcourt appears on tracks such as 'Most Of What I Know' and 'Kisses For The Misses', while the sun-baked acoustic vibe of the whole long player will appeal to fans of the last SFA album or those looking for a more authentic version of The Thrills.

But elsewhere, blasts of horns, gently keyed pianos and restless chord changes recall everything from the closing Beatles albums to Carole King and even to Bill Withers. It’s an anachronism that Swift himself is seemingly aware of – 'Artist & Repertoire' tells a personal and bitter story of commercial failure that exposes as much of the fickleness of the music industry as it does his own hurt at being commoditised.

Swift may, by his own admission, be an unlikely hero. He may be unlucky in love, and sorrowful at heart. Like so much of the saddest music though, 'Dressed Up For The Letdown' marries pessimism to music that lifts the listener up from the gloom and provides that light at the end of a dark and lonely tunnel. Definitely not dressed up – and certainly no letdown.