Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire

On his second album--released eight years after the well received Into The Sun--Sean Lennon displays a talent for memorable tunes and varied arrangements that create a surprising amount of momentum despite the overall mid-tempo mellowness. Moods shift gently from the unhurried, synth-driven "Parachute" (which echoes Radiohead) to the ragged folk-rock of "Headlights," with its killer off-kilter chord progression, to the haunting "Spectacle," which makes surprisingly subtle use of a string section and Hammond organ. In the eight years between albums, Lennon's voice matured into an expressive instrument capable of nuanced crooning as well as more straight-ahead piano-pop balladry. His songcraft also shows a leap in sophistication, as demonstrated on "Friendly Fire," whose compelling, ascendant melody gives way to a powerful full-band chorus. The second disc of the set contains videos for each song on the album, rendered with as much sensitivity and creativity as the music.( this album depresses you)