JUDGING by singer Paul Smith's tone, Maximo Park are confident they have a winner on their hands with this follow-up to their successful debut, A Certain Trigger.

The Teessider has been ultra-positive in the run up to release, despite the "difficult second album" tag. Is he right to be so confident?

Frankly, yes. Because despite the lukewarm reaction of some critics, Our Earthly Pleasures is magnificent. It's brilliant because Maximo Park are not resting on their laurels, or producing a clone to A Certain Trigger, and have instead experimented. The result is an album which flows, with a collection of songs vastly superior to their opening gambit.

Our Velocity is the highlight with rousing verses lit up by a sensational middle eight, while Russian Literature, with its hard piano and crashing drums, is not far behind.

Smith must be a lonely boy. The overriding theme is the pain caused when relationships go wrong. By The Monument chronicles the crushing aftermath of a failed love, with our protagonist left so empty he has resorted to standing around and waiting for rain to fall.

Your Urge reveals the futility of love triangles, while A Fortnight's Time - a wannabe suitor's declaration of intent - switches the tone once more.

It wouldn't be Maximo Park without being eclectic and, alongside love and loss, Smith also unburdens himself about modern architecture and city transport systems.

He can do this because Maximo Park conjure tight four-minute pop songs which are driven by catchy melodies. Yes, the lyrics may be strange - "You paradigm of womankind," Smith wails at one point - but the sound lodges in your head and refuses to leave.

And that's why Smith should be smiling.