Music for the new man. Mike Badger trades in lo-fi acoustic musings for the broken hearted. Founder member of The La's, Badger's music is low key and unassuming, in a way that suggests his bedtime listening is more Sonny Condell and Blue Nile than Henry Rollins and Tommy Lee Jones.

Volume is a fine solo debut, if it's pensive, soulful songs you're after. Produced by Paul Hemmings of the Lightning Seeds, and featuring guest vocals from Tommy Scott from Space and piano and organ from Henry Priestman (remember The Christians?), it's a tentative, considered affair that lets Badger spread his artistic wings and paint aural landscapes all of his own, without suffering from any of the ponderous excesses that so many solo debuts engage in.

'Where Love Is' is a butterfly's wing of an opening track. Badger's vocals conjure pastoral images reminiscent of Nick Drake in his Bryter Later days. Acoustic guitar drives the song, (at a leisurely Sunday afternoon pace) and Badger sets the scene for a dozen like-minded tracks.