Oui

Saddled with the worst band name since Voice Of Cheese, The Sea And Cake often sound like The Beautiful South after two weeks in Benidorm studying jazz construction. And it works for the American four-piece's first album in three years, with vocalist Sam Prekop's soft voice bringing a wistfulness you hadn't known you missed so much.

With a confidence our own Dara could learn from, Oui uses strings with meticulous care to augment the band's basic guitar/keyboards line-up, most clearly demonstrated on 'Afternoon Speaker' which is only one of several tracks that manfully resist the temptation to pour double helpings of syrupy strings over everything. For 'The Leaf' and 'Everyday' the arrangements are reminiscent of Brian Wilson on a good day.

'The Colony Room' is a jaunty plink-along treat, with great vocals, attractive woodwind solos and delicate drumming from John McEntire, and the up-tempo jazz-inflected 'Two Dolphins' is the most evocative track on offer.

On 'I Missed The Glance' they bring an additional level of finger-clicking subtlety amid shifting rhythms that demand repeat playing, while 'You Beautiful Bastard' struts with as much elegance as you could handle in any instrumental over six minutes.

Paul Mertens' production is a lesson in using recording techniques to enhance songs rather than smothering them. At times The Sea And Cake get worryingly close to new age doodlings, but ultimately they opt for the right side of the road rather than the middle.

The recent re-emergence of interest in the works of m-o-r meisters Burt Bacharach et al has usefully refocused our attention on the more subtle aspects of the pop and rock genres, and that should make Oui worth checking out if that's where your head or feet are at these days.