THIS solo outing from the singer, songwriter and guitarist from the band My Morning Jacket is a thing of floating, shifting wonder, cinematic in its widescreen scope. James said he wanted the album to “sound like it came from a different place in time”, and he succeeds in this aim on a solo effort where he plays all the instruments, writes and produces.

Opening track State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U.) is a hazy, vaguely funky wisp of a song, while the stand-out A New Life starts with a melodic doodle and builds to an operatic pop song big enough to raise the roof of a cathedral.

Another highlight lies in Exploding, a filigreed instrumental which has the pleasing air of a half-remembered tune.

Actress sees more soaring pop, while closing track God’s Love To Deliver reaches out to religion, without preaching, bringing everything to a thoughtful close, with echoes of Matthew E White’s Big Inner, reviewed here three weeks ago.