AT TIMES almost unbearably tender, this deeply poetic modern folk album still has flint in its soul, especially in lyrics that speak of heartbreak and damage.

The music moves on from Yorkston's acclaimed debut, Moving Up Country, to a calmer, yet oddly more disturbing place.

These are lover's songs, but told from the perspective of the lover abandoned, alone or looking back on an affair or, as in Surf Song, a one-night stand at the beach. The mood is set in the opening Heron, and from then on Yorkston wanders, heart throbbing on sleeve, through a series of songs delivered in organic style, with no unwanted production to intrude between the music and the listener. A thing of rare beauty.

Updated: 09:05 Thursday, October 28, 2004