Gruff Rhys - 'Hotel Shampoo' (OVNI) Released: 14/02/11

'Hotel Shampoo' is an infuriatingly good record. It’s certainly not an amazingly good album. It’s a little better than a quite decent LP but neither is it an average one. Like most of Gruff Rhys’ solo and collaborative efforts, there is a distinctive measure of aplomb about it yet nothing grabs you tight, whispers sweet nothings into your ear and promises that you’ll hold it dear forever.

Replacing the folksy aesthetic of 2007s 'Candylion' with an equally luxuriant, albeit more piano driven sound, Rhys’ third solo album bears the considerable craft you would expect of a musician who began his recording career in 1988. Lead single and album opener ‘Shark Ridden Waters’ goes down like a fine whisky, its soothing bassline massages an air of rhythmic calm into proceedings punctuated only by the sharp aftertaste of a brooding brass arrangement.

A further shot of trumpet-lead fanfare elevates the otherwise easy-listening genteel of ‘Sensations in the Dark’ to a plane of raucous carnival celebration, where samba rules and all drinks come served with umbrellas.

'Hotel Shampoo’s greatest traits stem almost exclusively from these neat refrains: the mournful parp of a bugle on ‘Take A Secret’ , a funky organ solo on ‘Patterns Of Power’ and the jaunty drum roll that introduces ‘Honey All Over’ are all joyful turns on otherwise pleasant tracks. Such is the relaxed tone of the record, much of its contents relies on these little kicks to push proceedings along. Without a twist of excellence, many tracks flounder for direction leaving the listener waiting for a moment that never comes.

‘Rubble Rubble’ rumbles by with its plaintive chords and soft croon but it is sorely wanting for a substantial hook. Likewise, ‘Space Dust #2’ veers a little too closely to lounge music for its own comfort and lacks the energy to relieve itself from a lethargic morass.

That’s not to say that there’s any rotten apple at the core of 'Hotel Shampoo', only that its points of high entertainment are often matched by tracks which drift in and out of your consciousness without ever really threatening to stay there.

For this exasperating insistence on showing subtlety and restraint in the moments when a rush and push of inspiration is wanted, Gruff Rhys’ latest solo adventure remains a pretty decent album when perhaps it could have been fantastic.