Bad Love

Following a seemingly endless bout of movie soundtrack projects, Newman's first album proper in almost a decade has been hailed (most notably by Newman himself) as his best yet. Whether that's true or not is debatable, but Bad Love, produced by Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Suzanne Vega, Ron Sexsmith etc.) is certainly up there with past glories such as Good Old Boys, Sail Away and Little Criminals. It also finds Newman back in familiar black humour mode, with much biting satire, wry irony and self-deprecation in evidence.

Despite the overwhelmingly pessimistic atmosphere on this record, it opens on a positive note: 'This is My Country' vies with Ray Charles' 'America The Beautiful' as a stars 'n' stripes anthem for the new millennium, with its gorgeous melody underpinning a plea for a return to older values, "when a phone call cost a dime.""

The feel-good factor doesn't last long however. And while the metallic riff (à la The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me') punctuating 'I'm Dead But I Don't Know It' might recall 'I Love LA' in spirit, the theme, which amounts to a premature obituary, couldn't be more downbeat: "Everything I write all sounds the same . . . just not as good."

Newman is often at his best when wallowing in sentimentality as he does occcasionally here, particularly on 'Every Time It Rains', an exquisitely wrought ballad and a definite highlight. Not far behind is 'I Miss You', an achingly poignant love song directed explicitly towards his ex-wife which sees him at his most vulnerable: "I wanted to write you one before I quit / And this one's it."

The self-conscious cleverness of the lyrics can get in the way of actual enjoyment and his relentless cynicism gets wearying at times - 'Better Off Dead' is yet another paean to his insecurity and probably one too many: "Become what you see, yes a loser like me." Meanwhile, 'Big Head, No Cattle' is almost a sequel to 'Riders In The Rain', the accurately-portrayed country rock pastiche that appeared on Little Criminals.

The penultimate track, 'Going Home' is Newman's take on classic American songwriting in the 'Goodnight Irene' tradition while the album's closer, 'I Want Everyone To Like Me' encapsulates the predominant air of gloom perfectly. There've probably been more upbeat suicide notes written, but then with Randy Newman, the bottle always was half-empty.